BARKITECTURE

barkitecture: translation

n.

The architecture of doghouses.

I'm sure with barkitecture just taking off, the next generation of doghouses will be designed with individual breeds in mind. The house of a boxer will come with a weight room and speed bag; Irish setters will have Guinness on tap in the Pooch Pub; and Border collies will have a small tract of lush grassland out back where they'll keep their own herd of sheep.

— William J. Thomas, The Dog Rules, Key Porter Books, 2000

"Builder Rick Blumenthal was putting the finishing touches on a little piece of canine heaven, a red cedar estate called 'Go Woo.'...The house will be auctioned off, along with nine other custom doghouses, at a 'Barkitecture' gala on Saturday to benefit the Progressive Animal Welfare Society of Bainbridge Island."

— Lynn Steinberg, "How much is that doghouse in the window?," Seattle Post-Intelligencer, February 22, 1999

This is one of those silly coinages that, I'm sorry to say, I just can't seem to resist. (However, you should see the ones I reject!) It welds together bark and architecture, with a result that is euphonious, if nothing else. If this word has even the slightest bit of popularity, it's because a book named Barkitecture was published in April, 1999. However, the earliest citation found its way into print just before that.

advertecture

architectural myopia

biotecture

black dog syndrome

dog that caught the car

dog watching TV

dog whisperer

poo X

puggle

pupperware

rearchitect

Velcro dog

Housing and Architecture

Pets and Animals