Design Speak lets you in on a some industry lingo so that you will sound oh-so-smart. From abbreviations to acronyms to phrases to trendy words, we’ll do our best to cover it, and we’ll do it in language you’ll understand.
We find these fascinating and beautiful in a very industrial way. Gabions are cages, metal baskets or boxes – usually stacked in rectangular shapes – that are filled with stones, aggregate and/or sand and earth for civil engineering and architectural applications. They used to be very important in military applications, protecting soldiers from enemy fire, but today we see them more and more used in decorative ways, even though they may still possess a highly functional use, such as supporting, damming, protecting, and stabilizing.
Just as a gang is made up of people who join together, ganged seating describes chairs – and, sometimes, low side tables – that are designed to be able to connect to one another for group installations. Often you will see the terms “ganged seating” and “tandem seating” used interchangeably, but we consider them to be different. We consider “ganged seating” to be individual furniture pieces that can each stand alone on their own with its own supporting legs, but that are connected together with adjoining parts / mechanisms for certain applications.
Though not as sexy as a cabriole leg or a chevron pattern, this project management tool is vital to the design industry. This type of chart – that was named after Henry Gantt sometime around 1915 – can clearly outline a project’s activity schedule. Used to track critical and non-critical tasks in chronological order and against one another for everything from huge, long-term developments to small residential remodels, it helps all parties involved to understand who is in charge of what, when tasks need to be underway and completed, and how their performance (or lack thereof) affects the rest of the team. Google the term “Gantt Chart” and you’ll not only find a range of examples, but also project management software options that make creating these often complex charts quite elementary.
“Party on, Wayne!” Sorry, couldn’t help it. Far from being an amusing heavy metal fan putting on a cable access show in his friend’s basement, the A&D version of the term garth is the open courtyard enclosed on all sides by a structure. Most often – if you even run across this word at all – it will be in conjunction with a monastery or a church.
This is a fancy term for embossing or emulating a type of relief design. But on what and how, you ask? Pretty much anything: textiles (like on downy mohair or heavy velvet), leather, paper, metal, and plastics. The process is quite ancient, but it’s used often today. The impression of the design is usually transferred via an engraved roller under high heat and low pressure. Then, depending on the desired effect, the material might be have applications of a variety of finishes applied to it. The result is a beautifully crafted material with three-dimensional texture.
This kind of gilt is sooooo much better than the other kind. Example: Some people feel guilt over gilding every little thing in their homes with too much gilt. Yes, to gild something is to overlay it with a thin covering of gold (or a close substitute). Ceilings, moldings, decorative accessories: people will apply gilt to anything. You may have heard your grandmother use the phrase “gild the lily,” which means to add unnecessary ornamentation to something that’s beautiful in its own right. (Update for 200X: too much bling.) One last thing: The verb gild should not be confused with the noun guild, which is an association of people with similar interests or pursuits. In Medieval times, guilds were like trade associations made up of merchants or craftsmen; these days, the definition isn’t so strict.
We know where you’re going with this, so just stop. In the decorative world, gimp is an ornamental flat braid or round cord used as a trimming on upholstery, drapery, lamps, bedding, etc. Made from strands of silk, wool, cotton, synthetic fibers or blends, they are braided or twisted around a cord or wire. Styles of gimp are pretty much infinite, as are colors and color combinations.
This late 17th century French term, which developed from the Italian term girandola, describes a highly decorative, branched candleholder made out of stone (such as marble) and metal (such as bronze or gold). Girandoles were often adorned with crystals and produced and displayed in pairs. The term is also used to refer to a luxurious type of wall sconce that included a highly ornamented back mirror, which reflected the light into the space.
Simply put, this means glass. It can also be used as the process of fitting and installing windows or areas with glass. On top of that, the material used in the process doesn’t even have to be actual glass – it could be transparent high-performance plastic (like Lexan®) or any kind of safety and/or composite material used like glass. Tradesmen who do the installation are known as glazers. You’ll also hear the term “double glazing”, which means two layers of glass set in a window to decrease heat loss and increase efficiency.
Not to be confused with GNP (gross national product), the term you hear newscasters and government officials spitting out when discussing economic ups and downs. No, this fat little acronym stands for Guaranteed Maximum Price, which pretty much means what it says. GMP is an arrangement between two parties – usually a designer/architect and a client or a contractor/tradesman and a client – in which the party performing the services guarantees that his or her fee will not exceed a certain price. This works best when the one providing the services is very experienced, having performed similar type projects often. Just so that everyone’s covered, the agreement should be accompanied by additional language regarding changes and decision-making time frames. Otherwise, things could get real nasty.
An acronym for “gallons per flush”. This term is especially important when looking to design sustainable-minded or to earn credits for LEED projects, as the lower the GPF for toilets and urinals, the less water the building will use.
This term has to do with fabric selections for furniture – usually of the commercial variety. When a textile is “graded in” to a furniture manufacturer’s line, it means that the manufacturer has already struck a deal with an existing, branded fabric manufacturer to offer a particular fabric style (or multiple styles) as part of the furniture vendor’s line. In other words, it’s an easy way for a designer to have access to a more extensive range of fabric options without having to go through the hassle of constantly using COMs. The two entities will go through all of the hassle of working out the details on fabric testing (to meet codes), pricing, shipping, phase-outs, etc. The more textile manufacturers’ styles that a furniture vendor can grade in, then the more attractive their furniture line will be to specify. The furniture vendor will then offer a list of graded in fabrics from which the designer can choose. They will designate which styles are what Grade – for example: A, B, C or D or 1 through 7. Grade A / Grade 1 might be the least expensive offerings and Grade D / Grade 7 might be the most pricey.
This term derives from the “grain” of wood, which makes sense because it means simulating wood grain through advanced painting methods. Sloppy graining technique can look horrible, but in the hands of an expert, graining can make silk from a sow’s ear. (Sorry. It’s the Southerner in us coming out.) It can be applied to both interior and exterior surfaces and used on either actual wood or another base material, such as metal.
An artisan who has taken the care to analyze various wood structure and patterning can create amazing simulations of anything from basics like cherry, mahogany, walnut, and oak to exotics like burl, rosewood, macassar, wenge, satinwood, and ebony. Of course, a craftsman needs just the right tools in order to transform the bland into the stunning. Specialty brushes and combs pulled through translucent glazes over base coats of colors and stains create a basic graining, but more detailed imitations of highly figured wood require very detailed drawing into the glaze.
This term refers to woven fabric that has been removed from the loom but before it has been submitted to the dyeing or finishing process. Sometimes it is also called “greige goods”.
To bridge the gap between the student / educational community and the professional / manufacturer community of the interior design world, and not to die of boredom while we do it.
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IFI (International Federation of Interior Architects/Designers) presents WING: World Interiors for the Next Generation and invites you to enter THINK/WORK: An IFI Design Accelerator Competition sponsored by Teknion. This competition seeks projects that re-envision, re-invent and re-design future workspaces. IFI and WING calls upon Interior Architects/Designers to submit solutions that bring value, relevance, responsibility, culture, business, knowledge and identity as stated by the IFI Interiors Declaration. The deadline to enter is June 28, 2013. GO HERE to find out more.
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