Winter is here, the streets are full of festive lights and store displays are decorated with gift-wrapped goodies which must mean only one thing—the holiday season is upon us!
Architects, ArchDaily has got you covered: our 2017 holiday gift guide features over 40 ideas, with gifts ranging from the slightly wacky to the delicately designed. This year the list includes an assortment of concrete furnishings and accessories, space frame-inspired jewelry and architectural building blocks.
So without further ado, let the shopping begin!
Sea on Concrete Phone Case / Cafelab
$35.99, Society6
For the brutalist lover within! The artwork on this phone case features a poured concrete print, softened by an aquamarine strip along the bottom—perfect for any Le Corbusier fans out there.
Minimalist Trainers / Common Projects
$376-$390, Dover Street Market
The simple design of the Common Projects trainer has made them an icon of modern design, "the Eames Lounger of sleek sneakers." The smooth design is broken only by the unique serial number of the shoe, printed on the heel with gold foil for a minimal and mysterious look.
1:100 Architectural Model Accessories (Seasonal) / Terada Mokei
$13.39, Terada Mokei
Add seasonal spirit to 1:100 models with these scale paper cut-outs of families enjoying the snow and trees covered in snowflakes. If you’re feeling creative, then they could even decorate your holiday cards this year!
1:100 Architectural Model Accessories (Cherry Blossom) / Terada Mokei
$13.39, Terada Mokei
Another set of 1:100 scale paper accessories for architectural models, the gorgeous pre-cut cherry blossoms bring the magic of spring into the scene.
Geometric Jewellery / Tuza
Prices around $50 – $300, Tuza
Tuza is offering ArchDaily readers 10% off their products using the code "ArchDaily" at the checkout. Their ribbon bar cuff, sundial cuff and Taurus stud earrings are a few of the designs we particularly love for their unique and minimal form.
Aalto Vase / Alvar Aalto
$75 – $175, MoMA
Alvar Aalto’s vase, originally presented at the World’s Fair in 1937, is an iconic piece of design that anyone would be proud to own. 80 years later and it is still a best seller featured in MoMA’s collection.
Blockitecture / James Paulius
Sets from $25, Area Ware
Architectural building blocks, just because we never really grow up. Their designs include "Habitat," "Garden City," and "Brutalism."
Coin Pouches / Building Block
$295, Building Block
In smooth black leather, the etcetera sling can hold all the “extras” in geometric, detachable pouches that can be removed and used independently from one another.
Golden Section Finder / Parsons and Charlesworth
$12, Area Ware
Instantly find proportional beauty in nature and the surroundings with the golden section finder. Only 85 x 54 mm, this laser-etched acrylic is the same size as a credit card, meaning you can carry it with you wherever you go.
Architecturally Inspired Cufflinks / Cffs
Prices from $40, Cffs
When an architect starts designing cufflinks, you get accessories inspired by space frames and diagrids. The geometric designs "speak through their form" to provide intricate, modern accessories.
Copper Concrete Earrings / Mica Rica
$13.98, Etsy
These grey and copper earrings are handmade with cement to form hexagons that appear dipped in copper. With time the cement will naturally darken as it comes into contact with the skin, making a piece that changes and is unique to you.
AR(T)CHITECTURE / Desplans
Prints from $82.50, Desplans
Desplan’s limited edition prints exhibit the unseen work of architects from the early stages of the project. Signed by the architects themselves, they make for a truly personal present, and offer insight into the abstract beginnings of a building.
‘Sac à Dos’ Adaptable Backpack / The Atelier Yul
$510, The Atelier Yul
Designed by creators, for creators. The handmade leather backpack comes with adjustable straps to hold architectural plans, tripods or large format drawings, suiting the most stylish of architects.
NYC Skyline Jigsaw / New York Puzzle Company
$8, Fab
A puzzle to ponder over by the fire after a day of rigorous gift-opening. The jigsaw features an illustration of downtown Manhattan’s ever-growing skyline in bright and bold colors—with only 100 pieces, to suit the more amateur puzzle-completers amongst us.
Concrete Geometric Planters / Various
Starting from $40.32, Etsy
Etsy is host to many gorgeous planter designs, especially made of concrete. These three geometric styles will fit perfectly into any modern home or office, bringing the outside inside. From designers uniicon, FactoLab and Keep It Green Art.
Architect’s Pencil Case / Choosing Keeping
$174.45, Choosing Keeping
This stationery set is specifically designed for architects, including a Bauhaus fountain pen, a thin aluminum scale ruler and a 0.7mm drafting mechanical pencil. Not to mention it comes already gift wrapped and ready to go!
Unisex Clothing Designed by an Architect / The Arrivals
Coats from $295, The Arrivals
Designed by an architect, the Arrivals' range of minimalist unisex garments uses the "form follows function" philosophy to create outerwear that endures the elements and takes on the new genderless silhouette. Taking pride in their garments' quality, The Arrivals offers a lifetime warranty on each piece—perfect for a gift that will stand the test of time.
Laser Cut Skyline Shadow-play / 13gramm
$6.96, 13gramm
13gramm feature skylines from around Europe and the world in their laser cut designs for tealights, creating scenes of the cities through shadows on the walls.
3D Printing Pen / 3Doodler
$99.99, Fab
Slightly cheaper than the real thing—the 3D printing pen brings drawing into the third dimension for impressive architectural models or simply as a toy for the office.
City Guides / CITIx60
$11.95, Viction:ary
These city guides are the traveling architect’s best friends. Jam-packed with information and illustrations, the little books inform you of the best cultural and architectural spots in the city. The range includes guides on Barcelona, Singapore, Milan, Copenhagen, Vancouver and more.
Grid Serving Tray / Daphna Laurens
$60, Area Ware
A sophisticated gift for any food lover to serve cheese platters and rustic sourdoughs for years to come. The board features a smooth side for cutting the food to be served on the grid side.
Pleated Faux Leather Backpack / Issey Miyake
$295, Ssense
Taking the recognized silhouette of the drawstring backpack, the leather pleats gives the bag an edge and tactility.
Flat-pack Christmas Decorations / COS
$13.22, COS
Even Christmas trees can be an architectural statement with these grey, flatpack baubles. Not to mention, it’s a great storage solution for the other 11 months of the year when they need to be hidden away.
‘Tsumiki’ Stacking Blocks / Kengo Kuma
$210, Spoon & Tamago
The sleek design of these blocks enables a multitude of structures to be created out of the triangles by any inquisitive mind.
Architect’s Christmas Jumper / Merry Pets Apparel
$29.99, Amazon
Being nice to architects should happen all year round but if everyone needs that little reminder then this jumper should do the trick. After all, if it wasn’t for us, everyone else would be sat outside in the cold.
Concrete Eau de Parfum / Comme Des Garçons
$151.98, Dover Street Market
What would concrete smell like if it were a perfume? Well according to Comme Des Garcons it has a richness of sandlewood with rose undertones.
Mobius Steel Ring / LACE by JennyWu
$110, LACE by JennyWu
The Mobius ring wraps around the finger in one single line that forms its unique shape. It comes in both grey steel and stainless steel that can be paired together to create a sculptural piece of artwork on the hand.
150 Colored Pencils / Prismacolor
$92.79, Amazon
An architect can never have too much stationery, especially high-end colored pencils for those parti diagrams and perspectives.
Gradient Jigsaw / Bryce Wilner
$20, Area Ware
For the more patient puzzle-goers, this satisfying jigsaw is 500 pieces of color meditation to create a gradient glow of oranges and reds.
Portable Solar Lamp / Olafur Eliasson
$35.40 Little Sun
The little solar lamp can give 5 hours of bright light out of the faceted lens, making it great for adventures in the outdoors. And by buying this, you are helping out communities without electricity as another little sun is sent to rural Africa with every purchase.
Ceramic Architecture Toys / Federico Babina
$176.80 each, Federico Babina
Who can resist these adorable architecture characters? Carefully handmade by artist Federico Babina, the trio represent the great architects Oscar Niemeyer, Le Corbusier and Frank Lloyd Wright, if you hadn’t already guessed from their charming ceramic faces.
3D Game of Thrones Puzzle / 4D Cityscape
$23, Amazon
Play pretend with the 3D model of King’s Landing and become the architect of the great capital for the day.
‘X’ Concrete Bookends / Mica Rica
$25, Etsy
2017 seems to be the year of concrete with another product using minimally designed béton brut. The elegant objects are made of grey concrete, white concrete and grey concrete with black pigment to add some industrial chic to the home or office.
New York City Skyline Chess / Skyline Chess
$105.70, Skyline Chess
The classic motif of pawns, knights, and king has taken an architectural turn, becoming New York skyscrapers cast in injection molded acrylic. Their range also extends to a London skyline edition.
Prism Magnifier XL / Daniel Martinez
$65, Area Ware
This absurdly large glass prism makes the perfect desk companion for viewing all of the small details on drawings and reading any tiny writing.
Brutalist Architray / the7thFl
$35, The7thFl
Who can resist another ode to brutalism as this desk organizer takes on this year's most popular style. The full range also features products inspired by Islamic, gothic and Roman architecture—perfect for organizing the endless amounts of stationery that architects (happily) receive at this time of year.
Glasses Case / ZZ Sanity
$8.99 for 3, Amazon
These portable zipper glasses cases are a chic alternative to the usual hardshell. Coming in three different colors, the full set lets you choose between grey blue or red.
Guggenheim Mobile / Flensted Mobiles
$64.50, Fab
Whether there is a baby architect in the family or just an avid fan of Alexander Calder, this mobile playfully recreates the New York skyline around Frank Lloyd Wright’s iconic Guggenheim.
LEGO USB Flash Drive / PNY
$22.99, Amazon
An ideal gift guaranteed to put a smile on their face—who knows an architect who isn’t partial to a bit of Lego?
