architect, verb.

No longer does it suffice to judge a building solely by its appearance; it must be measured and certified. When architects talk about ‘Excellence’, ‘Sustainability’, ‘Well-being’, ‘Liveability’, ‘Placemaking’, ‘Creativity’, ‘Beauty’ and ‘Innovation’, what do they actually mean? And what does this jargon tell us about the future of our homes, cities and planet? ‘With dry wit, humor, and honesty, sets out to debunk the myths of contemporary architecture.’ Jaxson Stone, Metropolis ‘feels like a stealth mission - an effort to slip something explosive into the carry-on luggage of the TED Talks class.’ Will Wiles, Literary Review ‘Reflects on the current state of his field, arguing that constraints on creative autonomy, overcommercialization and a poor understanding of good design have transformed 'spaces of spontaneity into preprogrammed, overdetermined areas.' The New York Times Book Review ‘No one else is identifying the problems or suggesting potential exits from them as wittily or as intelligently as he is.’ Tim Abrahams, Architectural Record ‘Acerbic on an industry that continues to wallow in its self-congratulatory vocabulary while ignoring its role in the climate crisis and the brutalities of late capitalism’ – Edwin Heathcote, Financial Times

Reinier de Graaf (1964, Schiedam) is a Dutch architect and writer. He is a partner in the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), where he leads projects in Europe, Russia and the Middle East. Reinier is the co-founder of OMA's think-tank AMO and Sir Arthur Marshall Visiting Professor of Urban Design at the University of Cambridge. He is the author of Four Walls and a Roof: The Complex Nature of a Simple Profession and the novel The Masterplan. He lives in Amsterdam.

Introduction 1. Tears and Love - starchitecture 2. Officially Amazing - world-class 3. Everyone a Winner - excellence 4. Crisis? What Crisis? - sustainability 5. All WELL - wellbeing 6. VancouverTM - liveability 7. Here nor There - placemaking 8. Rule Bohemia! - creativity 9. The B Word - beauty 10. Architecture without Architects - innovation Appendix: The Principles of Profspeak Acknowledgements Notes Index