ZEITGEIST DAS REDES SOCIAIS

 

For many architecture practices, the founders’ surnames are the obvious choice of name. Others take a less traditional approach, drawing on personal interests, design philosophies or ideas about collaboration. But can an unusual name do more than attract attention? Beedier speaks to four architects about how they arrived at their practice names, how those names have been received by clients and colleagues, and whether they have ever had second thoughts.

1. The Gentleman Architect

When architect Mick Haley set up on his own after 20 years co-running a larger practice, he decided against the usual approach of naming the business after himself. Instead, he chose The Gentleman Architect, with a distinctive logo based on a skull and crossbones, a nod to his long-past Goth days, but with an umbrella and pen replacing the crossbones.

Originally, the idea for the name arose from his liking for tweed. He envisaged himself wearing full tweed on client visits and was also prompted by the name of a nearby café company called The Gentlemen Baristas. He wanted it to convey the idea of a more mature architect, as well as injecting an element of fun.

‘I’ve always been really into tweed suits and that kind of stuff.’

‘The original idea was literally that I was going to be wearing them all the time, like a real brand.’

While the tweed attire gradually fell away (‘it just felt like slight overkill’), the unusual name stuck, although he admits that initially it was hard to answer the phone as ‘the gentleman architect’ every time.

‘It did feel quite pretentious, but I’ve got over that now,’ he said.

Since then, he’s been leaning further into the graphic branding, wearing gym gear with the logo on a blue background. Only the other day, when walking his dog, his branded T-shirt sparked a conversation with a fellow park user, leading to an opening for a potential project. The branding is also emblazoned on his vintage blue van, which has proved particularly effective as advertising, whether parked outside his house or at project sites.

Having a memorable name has clearly been an asset in attracting new business. He’s been consistently busy since setting up in Dulwich seven years ago, mainly with residential work in the local area, plus some projects further afield in Surrey and Kent.

‘The name sticks, and I get phone enquiries because people have either seen the blue van with the skull on the side, or the name in copperplate script,’ he said.

He’s now experimenting with using the same blue for his site signage, rather than the traditional RIBA red.

So would he recommend that others also take more of an offbeat approach when it comes to their practice names? He’s not so sure:

‘I don’t know. If everyone does something different, it’s all the same in the end, isn’t it?’

 

2. IFDO

‘I like to think that we chose well,’ said Thomas Bryans of IFDO, the unusual name chosen by the three practice founders back in 2014. They were clear that they didn’t want to name it after their own three names.

Although customary, this option ‘seemed very traditional and quite staid’, he said.

Instead, they wanted a name that would have its own identity rather than that of the founders as individuals, and could flex and adapt in the future if directors left or joined.

Choosing what that name could be, however, was rather less straightforward, and was the result of a very long WhatsApp discussion thread. This drew on conversations they’d had about the values of the practice that they wanted to run. Rather than pursuing a particular architectural style, they were interested in social and environmental values, and wanted to reflect that in the name.

Various acronyms were explored and rejected before settling on IFDO on its own.

“For us, the ‘if’ was very much about the question, the speculation, and the ‘do’ was the delivery and the action. And that for us summed up the architectural process. Thinking about the potentiality of something and then delivering on it.”

Interestingly, one of the acronyms discussed at the time was Imaginative Futures, similar to the Imagine the Future strap line suggested recently to the practice by branding advisors, and now adopted on its website.

Having finally chosen IFDO, the founders were so sure that they didn’t canvass opinions. Fortunately, they have no regrets, even if not everyone they encounter instantly gets the name.

“I think it’s one of those things where some people will see it and immediately understand it, and some just require a little bit of a glimpse into what the thinking was. But generally, yes, I think people get it,” he said, adding that having an unusual name can be a helpful point of curiosity and a conversation starter.

“Personally speaking, I’ve always felt very strongly in that name.”

The name has also easily accommodated a sister organisation, the nonprofit think tank and design laboratory IF/ Design Labs.

Looking back, Bryans can see that they were part of a cohort of practices from that time who went for more abstract names such as We Made That and AOC. It’s clearly catching – two practices set up by former team members of IFDO have also gone for abstract names.

 

3. [Y/N] Studio

When Alex Smith set up his practice in 2017, he was adamant he didn’t want to name it after himself, and risk anyone else working there feeling less important. Nor did he want a name that related to a particular type of work or material.

Instead, the name [Y/N] Studio was inspired by the practice’s design methodology.

‘The idea was born out of questions, so our name is branded so it looks a bit like the answer to a questionnaire,’ he said. The idea is that, however complex the questions, the answer can always be yes or no.

‘At the time, I was working on some really large projects, and I realised that the thing that makes a project good or bad is often whether or not people ask the right questions,’ he said. ‘When we meet you, we will keep asking you loads and loads of questions to eventually come up with an extremely complicated and detailed set of requirements. And we won’t give up until we solve them all.”

With the name Yes/No Studio already taken, he instead chose [Y/N] Studio, which had the advantage of working well as a fun, brandable logo.

In the practice’s early years, Smith said he was ‘desperately trying to explain what it meant it every time I met a new client’ before realising that most aren’t interested in the background behind the name. Despite one negative response to the practice name from a member of a design review panel, he feels it has been an asset, particularly in terms of branding, and has been liked by those who’ve worked there.

He’s proud to have a name that informs the practice’s description, and is pleased that if the business outlasts him ‘it still works as a name’.

‘Whether it’s made a difference to whether it was just Alex Smith Architects, I’m not really sure. The key is that it has to be memorable enough for your clients to remember what your name is to tell other people,’ he said.

 

4. Studio MUTT

The three founders of Studio MUTT were looking for something punchy and memorable when they came up with their practice name nearly ten years ago.

Surnames ‘were a big no-no’ according to director James Crawford, who felt they’d be too hard to remember and also too hierarchical. Instead, they were looking for a name that reflected how architecture is a collective endeavour.

Mutt fitted the bill not only because it was single-syllable and easy to remember, but because the idea of a cross-breed resonated with the directors’ interest in a collaborative, multidisciplinary approach.

A further narrative strand was the reference to R. Mutt, the signature on Marcel Duchamp’s famous Fountain urinal artwork, which was influential to the founders during their studies.

‘It’s a mix of all three things,’ according to Crawford, who likes that the name is open to interpretation as well as memorable.Over the years, the response to the name has generally been positive.

‘Some people might not get on with it, but at least they remember it!’ he says.

 

 

 

Informações adicionais

Mick Haley is a London-based architect and founder of The Gentleman Architect, an independent practice specialising in residential architecture. Based in Dulwich, he established the practice in 2019 after nearly two decades co-running a residential architecture firm. His work includes new homes, renovations, extensions and projects involving listed buildings and conservation areas.

Thomas Bryans is a London-based architect and co-founder of IFDO, an award-winning practice established in 2014 and known for socially focused, community-centred work. He is also co-founder and Executive Director of IF/ Design Labs, IFDO’s non-profit sister organisation, a think tank and design lab exploring how we imagine and shape the future of cities.

Alex Smith is a London-based architect and founder of [Y/N] Studio, established in 2017. His practice works across residential, commercial, educational and cultural projects, as well as public spaces and masterplanning. A graduate of the Royal College of Art, he previously worked at architectural practices in Copenhagen and London. Alongside his practice, he teaches at Canterbury School of Architecture.

James Crawford is an Architect and Co-founder of Studio MUTT, a Liverpool and London based architecture and design studio established in 2017. Since co-founding Studio MUTT, James has overseen a range of widely-published cultural and public-facing work and informed the critical and conceptual direction of the Studio. He studied at the University of Liverpool and Royal college of Art.

 

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