Archinect - News

Four Pritzker Prize-winning architects have recently designed watches

2024-03-28T11:00:00-04:00

There are countless examples of architects expanding beyond buildings and architecture to engage with product design. This month alone, for example, our news coverage has included a swirling whisky bottle designed by a Zaha Hadid Architects director, a lighting product range by Snøhetta, and a series of biophilic design products by ecoLogicStudio.

In particular, the fashion industry has played host to several intriguing collaborations with big architectural names. Late last year, Frank Gehry collaborated with Louis Vuitton on a handbag for Art Basel Miami Beach one year after Louis Vuitton’s Peter Marino collaboration while, in 2022, Amale Andraos debuted a jewelry collection for Judith Ripka. To further explore this relationship between architecture, product, and fashion, we have rounded up four recent examples of notable architects engaging in the design of watches.

Tambour Moon Tourbillon Poinçon de Genève Sapphire. Image credit: Louis Vuitton

Frank Gehry for Louis Vuitton: Tambou...

Tadao Ando channels his architectural design into a watch for Bulgari

2020-01-28T11:51:00-05:00

Tadao Ando and Bulgari have unveiled the results of their collaboration of the popular Octo Finissimo Automatic watch. Working with Bulgari's Senior Director of Watch Design, Fabrizio Bonamassa Stigliani, Ando imagined a watch that could pull inspiration from concrete, a material that "has given buildings a unique personality."

Octo Finissimo Tadao Ando Edition. © Bulgari

The Tadao Ando × Bulgari Octo Finissimo Automatic collection utilizes titanium to compose terraced geometries, meant to capture the structural essence of architecture. Of Ando, Bonamassa said in a statement, "I went to see the church of light he worked on. The approach was the same as Octo: simple, with light and shadow, precise details. And I used titanium. We had a common language."

Shinola unveils limited edition watch celebrating the legacy of architect Minoru Yamasaki

2019-12-05T17:55:00-05:00

Detroit-based lifestyle brand Shinola celebrates the legacy of Minoru Yamasaki with a new addition to their Great American Series of watches, the Yamasaki Limited Edition Watch 38mm. "Through his world-class architecture, Yamasaki’s legacy continues to delight and surprise those who are lucky enough to experience his buildings in [Detroit], across the country and around the world," the company writes.

The watch is inspired by the McGregor Memorial Conference Center and One Woodward, both located in Detroit. Sporting a burshed stainless steel case, a black dial with matte alabaster embellishments along with an exclusive Yamasaki caseback, this timepiece is sure to realize its potential in celebrating Minoru Yamasaki's life and legacy.

Is the Embr a true personal HVAC system?

2018-10-25T13:49:00-04:00

Five years ago we reported on a device invented by a group of students at MIT. This device, originally called "Wristify", was a small bracelet designed to heat or cool the wearer to achieve customized comfort, regardless of the surrounding environment. Today, after a few years of R&D, and with the help of a successful Kickstarter campaign, we have Embr, the newly designed and branded "Thermostat For Your Body".

The original "Wristify" prototype from MIT

The new hardware looks like a (very) large, faceless watch. The unit itself is an aluminum heat sink with a carved fingerprint-like series of waves on the outer surface, topped with a thin button/light bar indicating the current heating/cooling status. The strap is a steel mesh bracelet, very similar to Apple's Milanese Loop watch band (or a less expensive knockoff).

I've been trying out a review model for a few weeks, mostly testing out the cooling features since I live in LA. I've also given the heating feature a few opportunities t...

klokers is again on kickstarter with its new watch KLOK-80, inspired from the sixties, for women and men.

2017-11-20T09:00:00-05:00

This post is brought to you by klokers

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KLOK-08 pays tribute to the Sixties, from where it inherited the spirit and aesthetic codes.

THE SPIRIT: FREEDOM & NONCONFORMITY

The creative and audacious 1960s broke the rules: we swapped long dresses for mini-skirts, we listened to pirate radio, we disobeyed with a smile! The Sixties represent counter-culture: the desire to shake conventions, the happy youth, the cool! The wind of freedom whispered to everyone that anything was possible. That anyone could live one’s own freedom.

Freedom of use klokers inherits from this spirit, and invites it’s community to live their time offering the freedom of use: KLOK-08 is a watch-head that clips on and off on straps and accessories through a patented fixing system. This unique system makes all the products compatible and interchangeable. It is up to you to create not only your combinations (colors, materials) but also ...

Winner of the Instrmnt K-series watch giveaway

2017-09-21T13:00:00-04:00

In Archinect's latest giveaway our readers had the chance to win a brand new K-series watch by Glasgow based design studio Instrmnt. Unlike their previous watches this series has an Italian made NBR compound rubber strap and new colour palette made up of fixed dilutions of 100% black. In case you missed our interview with one of the founders, Ross Baynham read it here now.

The lucky winner is Dylan Davies

Thanks to everyone who participated!

New K- Series Instrmnt Watch Giveaway

2017-09-08T05:00:00-04:00

A crisp rectangular box arrives. Grey, with nothing but a neatly embossed white logo in the bottom right corner; sleek and considered. You open it. All the elements of your new watch are carefully aligned, systemised, and ready for assemblage. "There is a certain connection forged with an item when you make it yourself" says Ross Baynham, who co-founded the Glasgow-based multi-disciplinary design studio with Peter Sunderland in 2014. He is very right: it's all in the delivery.

Since launching with Instrmnt 01 in 2014, the duo has made a 2-speed City Bike in collaboration with Freddie Grubb and a Day Bed designed with Edinburgh-based craftsman and furniture maker Nam Gaston, as well as a second series watch and several limited edition partnership products. Early last year, they opened their first shop right where they began: in Glasgow, a city receiving notable attention in recent years for its thriving design and arts community. This month, they launch the eagerly anticipated new K...