Words shape how we understand and influence the development of our built environment. They can unlock agency and the potential for more equitable spaces. To achieve this, we need language that is both accessible and empowering.
The Thesaurus for Change workstream aims to:
- Challenge the limitations of built environment jargon by suggesting new, more inclusive vocabulary.
- Translating technical or industry definitions into everyday language so everyone - especially those traditionally excluded - will feel able to participate in the design process.
- Celebrate linguistic diversity by inviting those outside the industry to share how they use words to engage with their city, and validating their terminology alongside technical definitions.
- Breaking down jargon and campaigning for more inclusive modes of communication, potentially creating an ‘atlas’ or tool for inclusive engagement.
Since launching, we have run Mini Open Calls on our socials, gathering words that people find opaque or empowering and folding those responses straight into a living Thesaurus. Since 2023, we have run a series of ‘Jar-Gone’ workshops that highlight and seek to reduce industry jargon. The first workshop happened during Open House Festival 2023, where visitors in Leyton and Leytonstone mapped their neighbourhoods and pinned baffling phrases. We’ve collaborated with Open City Accelerate and engage with students to illustrate jargon they encounter at university. Our reflections on this process appeared in Issue 8 of Crumble magazine, bending jargon “Out of Shape” and advocating plain language.
During the 2024 London Festival of Architecture, we launched and hosted a ‘Jar-gone: Conversations’ event at London School of Architecture. There we unpacked the charged word “regeneration” in an open and audience-led panel with Nabil Alkinani, Sophia Glass, Nana Biamah-Ofosu and LSA Part 0 student Jamila Saha.
Have a word to add, a story about language and place, or a piece of baffling archi-speak to banish? We’d love to hear from you.