dress like an Architect: black

It has been a while since my last post and since I've been at home for 2 weeks now, I can't use school as an excuse for being busy. I have, however, been able to reflect on the original point of this blog, as lighthearted means of journaling observations on architectural. Expect more of this sort of thing along the way as summer begins to come full swing and sleep loss from the school year has been redeemed.

There is no doubt architects are characters. Perhaps it stems from the attitude that accompanies a "maker", that they have an inherent power to create and decide, and thus a license to be slightly different from the average salary making professional. Yet with all of there quirks, why does the stereotype connecting architects to black clothes? They are supposed to creative people, no? So why the simple palette?
A professor once told me that architects originally began wearing black so that any marks from the ink that they got on them while drafting would not show, especially in meetings (he also said that they wear bow ties so as to not smudge not yet dried lines). I thought it was funny, and a bit far fetched. Nonetheless, even if that is why architects began to wear black, nowadays, one does not have to worry about smudging their work when drawing in CAD, yet that fashion has become part of architectural culture.

I have met architects who look like they are wearing their bedroom curtains or were mistakenly spray painted fluorescent, yet many architects choose a subdued wardrobe. While this does not always mean solid black, I think it reflects a certain abstractness that just like often sought after in architectural models or drawings, that they wish to reflect in their character. No textual override or corporate alignment. Perhaps a feeling that if elegance should be a achieved in a building, it should also be achieved in the look of the building's creator. Perhaps, in a way, the lack of self expression exemplified in a black wardrobe can constitute a form of expression in itself. A fashionistic void if, you will. After all, architects are people whose job is to be concerned with appearances and it seems natural that they should sculpt their own aesthetic so as to invite but not give everything away.