Words getting in the way

It's a cheap shot having a go at the impenetrable language that sometimes accompanies architectural projects.  Especially when they exist only at the conceptual level, and are intended only for exhibition.  But sometimes a tract is just so bizarre, that you have to help perpetuate it as humour, or comment on the tragedy of which it is symptomatic.  Because the idea that an architect may not be able to communicate effectively with normal human beings, or that academia might culture such an outcome, is definitely a tragedy. 

And so it was that I trod warily when a friend sent me the following, from suckerPunch:

“Three’s a crowd” surveys the intricacies present amongst conjoined architectural triplets through a simultaneous exploration in form, color and geometry. This uncanny tripartite scheme gives way to a palimpsest of projective systems, which exposes the conspicuous intimacy existing amid inseparable compound bodies, entwined graphic marks and interlocked chromatic modulation. The trio resonates toward the optical limit and defines an emergent spatial aliasing, stressing even further the indivisible tone of the composition.

Back in the heyday of Transition magazine at RMIT, there used to be an A4 sheet divided into three columns, each with suitably composed phrases that by random combinations could be used to generate entirely plausibly sounding academic articles. I had long lost my hard copy, but I was sure they exist. I was worried that this suckerPunch text, notwithstanding that it fitted the accompanying illustrations quite well, was the product of one of these bullshit generators.

I couldn't help thinking that maybe it is a reverse sting, meant to wind up the gullible of my generation. Google is wonderful, and within five minutes I had found a copy of the same sheet I remembered – but my fears were not confirmed; the suckerPunch text exists on a whole other plane.

• If you are only doing it for fun, try archi-blah blah blah on m3ntalcontraband.
• If you are too spoiled to do old fashioned cut-and-paste, have fun with the flash generated individual phrases of the Landscape Urbanism Bullshit Generator or the generic Educational Jargon Generator.

 Just don't post the outcomes as comments on this blog.  Except under this post.