Etymology

duck architecture

Today it means: A style of novelty building where the structure's shape is the direct representation of its function. Full definition →

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The story

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.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.