Open City Style Guide
This is the Open City style guide. Refer to this bible on stylistic issues when writing or editing copy for the charity and its publications.
Our brand names
The name of our charity is ‘Open City’. Never Open-City or open city.
The name of our largest single event is ‘Open House Festival’. Never Open House, Open House London, OHF or Open House Weekend. Open House Festival can be refereed to as ‘the festival’ for short. This is so the festival does not become confused with the organisation.
The name of our global network is ‘Open House Worldwide’.
Acronyms
Spell in full followed by acronym in brackets. Use acronym thereafter: the Architecture Foundation (AF). Some acronyms are so well know that they don’t need spelling in full; AIDS,
Ampersand &
& can be used in titles and in company names but not in general prose – McMorran & Whitby, Camberlin Powell & Bon.
Architecture Practices
Respect the official formatting of the architecture practice’s name as displayed on their website except in egregious cases where lower case is used at the start of the name which can be confusing to readers : DK-CM, Foster + Parters, Hawkins\Brown, WilkinsonEyre. Where an architecture practice is named after a single director, be careful to distinguish when referring to the individual or the practice by using the full name of the firm: ‘Peter Barber Architects have built a new block of social housing in Enfield.’ rather than ‘Peter Barber has built a new block of social housing in Enfield.’
Covid pandemic
The pandemic, Covid, coronavirus – not Coronavirus, COVID, Covid-19 or COVID-19. (Everyone knows which Covid we’re referring to by now!)
Compass Points – north, south, east, west
The compass directions north, south, east and west do not need capital letters unless they are part of a proper noun. E.g. North London is a distinct place well known as an area in its own right so should have a capital N. However, north Lewisham is not known as a distinct location so does not need a capital.
The West is capitalised as is Western. e.g. ‘The Western economic consensus.’
The Global South is capitalised as would be Southern when referring to the Global South e.g. ‘It is time for Southern cultural expression to be better valued by London’s arts institutions.’
Dates
1990s – not 90s or nineties.
Swinging 60s, Roaring 20s.
2 May 2020 – not second of May Twenty Twenty or the 2nd of May 2020 or similar.
19th century – not nineteenth century or 19th C.
Facade
Facade. No accent. (See Words from Other Languages.)
Hyphens, and dashes
Use a hyphen to join words: Neo-Georgian. Use a short dash with spaces on either side to extend thoughts: Great pubs are seductive – intimate, warm and cosy. Never use a long dash.
Latin
Avoid wherever possible unless confident the phrase is commonly used.
Movements
Capitalise political and architectural movements alike: Victorian, Georgian, Communist, Neoliberal, Neoclassical, Neo-Georgian.
Names
Always include first and last name where known. Many architects of the past used only a first initial but Open City tries to restore parity. Use second name only thereafter unless the reference is intentionally intimate – Henry Thomas Cadbury-Brown rather than H. T. Cadbury-Brown.
Nicknames
Use nicknames in single quotes between first and last names: Colin St John ‘Sandy’ Wilson. Except for Le Corbusier.
Numbers
Spell numbers in full up to and including ten. From then on use digits for numbers higher than ten: eight, nine ten, 11, 12, 13. Exceptions for dates, times and ranks.
One
Avoid if possible using to refer to the speaker, or any person, as representing people in general. Often ‘one’ can be substituted for ‘you’ or another less posh-sounding phrasing with no loss of meaning.
Our and We
Avoid the generalising tendency to insert and ‘our’ or a ‘we’ into claims. This habit often makes otherwise straightforward sentences feel lofty and introduces grand claims: ‘Our preconceived ideas of motherhood’ is no better than ‘preconceived ideas of motherhood’.
Partnerships
If partnership is a company (like the grocers, Marks & Spencer) we consistently use "&" but if the partnership is just two people (like the Open City staff, Phin and Merlin at ) we consistently use "and".
Pub types. Capitalise types of pub
Alehouse, Beerhouse, Gin Palace, Free House, Roadhouse, Desi Pub, Improved Pub.
Quotation marks
Single quotation marks for a quote. Double quotation marks for a quote in a quote. Triple quotation marks for a quote in a quote in a quote and so on.
Use quotation marks for actual quotes such as from a book, or direct speech. Avoid as a device to place emphasis or irony on a word or phrase – this is an overused tactic employed by writers who rely too much on their readers to guess the specific emphasis they are conveying rather explaining themselves clearly and accessibly. If the meaning is not clear without quotes, you need to add more explanation.
Do not use quotes for titles of books or films [see Titles], or for architectural movements [see Movements].
s’
Possessive apostrophe’s should follow words ending in s. An additional s is not required: Jesus’ disciples, not Jesus’s disciples.
Showcase
Sometimes as a noun, never as a verb. Trophies sit in a showcase. Open House Festival is not a showcase of architecture in London, nor does it showcase London’s architectural riches. If you need a verb to indicate the act of showing off some cool things, try ‘exhibit’ or ‘spotlight’: Open House Festival spotlights London’s architectural riches.
Temperance
Lowercase unless specifically in the context of the Temperance Movement.
The
Lower case for newspapers (the Guardian), magazines (the New Statesman), pubs (the Coach and Horses), bands (the Black Eyed Peas, the Not Sensibles, the The), nicknames (the Hulk, the Red Baron), and sports grounds (the Oval).
Upper case for books (The Lord of the Rings), films (The Matrix), poems (The Waste Land), television shows (The West Wing), and works of art (The Adoration of the Magi).
Thus, hence, ergo, behest
Avoid wherever possible.
Times
1am, 6.30pm, etc; 10 o’clock last night but 10pm yesterday; half past two, a quarter to three, 10 to 11, etc; 2hr 5min 6sec, etc; for 24-hour clock, 00.47, 23.59; noon, midnight (not 12 noon, 12 midnight or 12am, 12pm).
Titles
Names of songs, magazines, books, films and articles should be italicised: the Architectural Review, Mr. Tambourine Man, 2001: A Space Odyssey.
War
civil war (England), American civil war, Spanish civil war
Boer war, Crimean war, Korean war, Vietnam war
first world war, second world war (do not say ‘before the war’ or ‘after the war’ when you mean the second world war)
postwar and interwar are acceptable provided the context makes it clear which war is being referred to.
Words from other Languages
Use italics and appropriate accents for words borrowed from other languages unless word is so commonly used in English that it is effectively an English word, in which case italics and accents are no longer necessary: facade, cafe, creche, cliche etc.