duck architecture

English

Etymology

From duck +‎ architecture. The term was coined by architects Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown in 1968; inspired by the original "Big Duck" building in Long Island, New York, built in 1931 to sell ducks and duck eggs.

Noun

duck architecture (uncountable)

  1. (architecture) A style of novelty building where the structure's shape is the direct representation of its function.
    Coordinate terms: architectural duck, duck
    • 2019 January 10, Alexxa Gotthardt, “The Quirky, Endearing Tradition of “Duck” Architecture”, in artsy.net‎[1]:
      Longaberger’s basket building still stands ... The towering edifice of Surrealist proportions is a testament to duck architecture at its most direct—and a reminder to would-be and expert architects everywhere to dream big.
    • 2020 November 9, Messy Nessy, “An Ode to what they call “Duck Architecture””, in Cabinet of Curiosities‎[2]:
      ... eye-catching buildings sprang up along the roadside, competing for the attention ... And it turns out – they have their own bona fide architectural genre and it’s called Duck architecture!

Further reading

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