Although the main objective of any development scheme is to meet the client's functional brief, high priority is frequently attached to the creativity of the design concept. Built or projected structures are described in terms of their architectural language, geometry, visual impact and sympathy with context. Such texts are often characterized by a high degree of abstraction.

Architectural descriptions provide a rigorous test of technical and stylistic competence. The translator needs to grasp the author's train of thought in respect of a specific building or design proposal – drawings and pictures being an enormous help in this regard – and express this in a polished style in the target language. As countless examples from the Internet show, literal translations of architectural descriptions are not only inept and cumbersome, but also largely meaningless!