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Archinect's 2024 Holiday Gift Guide

2024-11-28T09:00:00-05:00

The holiday season is here, and if you're looking for the perfect gift to celebrate, it's time to take a peek at Archinect's curated 2024 gift guide with items selected personally by our editorial team.

Whether you're an architect, student, or just a straight-up fan of all things design, we've got you covered. This year, our recommendations ranged in scope from must-see documentaries to home goods to architect-designed timepieces and everything that falls between.

The list is broken down into broader categories for your convenience. Now, let's take a look, vet some of the gift ideas, contemplate, test, choose, and enjoy!

Watches designed by (some Pritzker-winning) architects

Image credit: Louis Vuitton

Frank Gehry for Louis Vuitton: Tambour Moon Tourbillon Poinçon de Genève Sapphire — Sold here

What's better than Frank's longstanding collaboration with the luxury retailer? The watch is part of a unique collection inspired by the architecture of Gehry's Fondation Louis Vuitton in Pa...

Archinect's 2023 Holiday Gift Guide

2023-11-22T19:44:00-05:00

The holiday season is upon us, and if you're looking for the perfect gift to give this year OR you're scoping out a special something to give yourself, explore Archinect's curated gift guide picked by our editorial team.

Whether you're shopping for the architect, student, or design aficionado in your life, we've got you covered. This year, our recommendations range from discussion starter home goods to impress your holiday guests, bespoke items for the office, a unique chess set, our favorite coffee accessories to accompany Archinect's Brutal coffee, and more! To help shoppers this season, we've broken down this year's list by price to help you and your wallet.

Gifts Under $50

Frank Lloyd Wright Tea Towel — Buy here

This jacquard tea towel inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright's iconic glass window design at his 1895 Oak Park Home and Studio is almost too nice to dry your dishes with, so we certainly won't be judging if you just display it for its decorative value. (Retail price $14.96)

B...

Archinect's 2022 Holiday Gift Guide

2022-11-25T15:18:00-05:00

The holidays are here, and if you're looking for the perfect gift to give to a special someone OR you're looking for a gift to give yourself this year, check out our curated list of ideas from Archinect's editorial team.

Whether you're shopping for the architect, student, or design professional in your life, we've got you covered. This year, our team's recommendations range from must-read books, fun home goods, and our favorite coffee accessories to accompany Archinect's Brutal coffee. From simple and practical gifts to those worth splurging on, we've crafted a helpful gift guide for you this holiday season.

Meet Me by the Fountain by Alexandra Lange

Meet Me by the Fountain by Alexandra Lange — buy here

If you're looking for a book that's filled with easy-to-digest information about malls, their nostalgic appeal, and fabled history, this is the perfect book to add to your library. In true Lange fashion, she provides nuanced perspectives paired with detailed research that helps her re...

Archinect's 2020 Holiday Gift Guide

2020-12-14T23:01:00-05:00

With the holidays upon us and last-minute gift-giving slowly creeping, shopping for that architect, student, or design professional in your life can be tricky. However, the team at Archinect has you covered.

This year our editors put together a list of curated must-have items from businesses and organizations passionate about design and doing good. Whether you're looking for something simple and practical or something to help spark creativity in those young and old, we have the perfect gift guide for you.

Troika Zimmermann Clutch Pencil with Scale

Troika Zimmermann Clutch Pencil with Scale - buy here

Clutch pencils are a classic drawing tool that gives designers a wide range of options when sketching. Instead of switching through various led sizes, this tool allows users to draw fine lines, heavy ones, shade, and much more.

reMarkable Paper Tablet

reMarkable Paper Tablet - buy here

If you're struggling to keep physical and digital notes, sketches, and drawings organized, give this di...

Displaying relics of Soviet architecture on your desk has never been easier

2019-01-24T15:59:00-05:00

Authored and published by Zupagrafika, and now featured in our Downtown LA retail store and online at Archinect Outpost, these miniature versions of brutalist structures from former Eastern Bloc countries can now rest easily on your desk or bookshelf.

House of Soviets (Kaliningrad, Russia). Authored and Published by Zupagrafika.

The Brutal East cutouts are authored and published by Zupagrafika, an independent design studio established in 2012 by a Hispano-Polish duo David Navarro and Martyna Sobecka in Poznań, Poland. The studio has a special affinity with Polish Poster School, post-war modernist architecture and paper.

Representing structures from Belgrade, Chisinau, Kaliningrad, Prague, St. Petersburg, Vilnius and Wrocław, these cutouts are faithfully illustrated with the ravages of time and hints of graffiti. The Brutal East kit comes with seven cutouts, each of which requires a ruler, and box cutter and white glue to construct.

Novosmolenskaya Housing Complex (St. Petersburg, ...

Creating a mini building at your desk never seemed more fun

2018-12-12T18:58:00-05:00

Now featured in our Downtown LA retail store and online at Archinect Outpost, these miniature building materials will make your other office mates jealous.

The team at Mini Materials have created scaled construction toys that not only look amazing but are functional just like their life size counterparts. A perfect desk accessory or a neat gift for the building fanatic in your life, Mini Materials creates a wonderful take on making construction materials available and accessible for all to enjoy.

1:6 Scale Mini Red Bricks (24pk + Pallet) Image © Mini Materials

Made of actual concrete and brick materials, these miniature building pieces look and feel like the real thing. Available in an assortment of sizes and material types building enthusiasts can purchase cinder blocks, bricks, lumber, even a mini jersey barrier.

The founders of Mini Materials started their venture in 2015 after noticing that "the world was lacking realistic versions of the most common building materials used tod...

Archinect's 2018 Holiday Guide, Part 1: Gifts for Architects to Give and Receive this Holiday Season

2018-11-21T12:48:00-05:00

Architects can be a tricky bunch to buy presents for given their penchant for high-quality design. Luckily, our curated gift guide will make it easy. Whether your family, friend or co-worker is practical or luxe—is into modernism or prefers Swiss design—there is something on this list for just about everyone. And, you might even find something to add to your own wishlist!

For the traveling urbanist: As great as the classic Moleskine is, their travel-centric City Notebook collection is a welcome addition to give that explorer in your life. Featuring places like Paris, New York, and Rome, these handy guides offer preliminary pages for planning your trip; tabbed spaces for you to note where to eat, drink, and visit; and include detailed area maps to help you find your way around.

Buy here.

For the gravity-defying sculptor: These colorful, stone-shaped blocks allow you to create, and then re-create, your own sculptures. Whether balancing them as high as they will go, or setting up a ser...

Archinect's 2017 Holiday Gift Guide

2017-12-01T12:10:00-05:00

Today is the 1st of December, which means if you've been managing to fend off the holiday cheer that seems to begin earlier each year, now is probably the time to get excited, or at the very least prepared. That means gifts, for your family, your friends, your co-workers, and maybe even yourself. If you're anything like me, this time often involves numerous panicked visits to the mall and desperate perusals online for the perfect gift. But, luckily for you, to save some stress, we've curated some pretty good options this year for the architects and design enthusiasts in your life.

For the Post-modern coffee (or tea) drinker: these 1st Floor Grey Mugs designed by Adam Nathaniel Furman are a great option for your co-worker who always seems to go for that second cup.

Buy here.

For the Brutalist who prefers Espresso: this concrete espresso machine, that also comes in Corian, is sure to turn heads while also delivering cafe-quality brews. A product from the design studio Montaag, the esp...

A Brutalist coloring book lets you paint it black (and gray, perhaps even blue)

2017-01-12T18:47:00-05:00

Depending on the level of surreality you favor in your coloring book exercises, The Brutalist Colouring Book from Belgian graphic designer Marc Thomasset allows you to create wildly imaginative or strictly literal renderings of various famous brutalist landmarks, including works by William Pereira and SOM (and even provides pre-made clouds for you):

9 perfect, (mostly) analogue gifts for architects to give and receive this holiday season

2016-11-23T15:15:00-05:00

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are coming, and you still haven't squared away gifts for family, friends or co-workers. Whether you're a bit shaky on your firm's gift-giving etiquette, or just hate shopping, our curated gift guide will make it easy.

For the thirsty minimalist: a simple, slim and portable thermos. Stay hydrated and/or caffeinated wherever you go.Buy here.

For the sustainable itinerant: one-of-a-kind tote by Indianapolis' own People for Urban Progress, made from upcycled Superbowl banners and reclaimed seatbelts. Fits your laptop and all the fixin's.Buy here, and listen to our podcast episode with PUP.

For the exacting host: yes, it's a protractor cutting board, for precise portioning of all your slices. Buy here.

For those rainy photoshopping days: a black-and-white gradient puzzle! Perfect for friends or enemies.Buy here.

For Greg Lynn-lovers: these globular candles will no doubt inspire your next topographical experimentation. Or at the very least, melt in a cool way.Buy ...

The 2015 holiday gift-giving guide for architects

2015-12-10T19:51:00-05:00

If you’re asking yourself, “What should I give the architect(s) in my life?” the answers are here: we came up with a slew of architect-appropriate gifts, ranging from clothing to furnishings to apocalyptic salvation, for that special detail-oriented someone. The best part? Absolutely no clichéd, Frank Lloyd Wright tchotchkes. You’re welcome.

ALTERNATIVE MODELS

These model-based items reconceptualize seemingly static spaces and processes in aesthetically pleasing (and quite efficient) ways. Archie Archambault’s mental maps, which represent cities not with GPS-accuracy but rather in the way we mentally and physically navigate them (for example, by landmarks extending outwards in concentric circles) are not only intellectually stimulating, but visually gorgeous too. Damien Murtagh's Arckit models, meanwhile, have a more practical application: by creating a kind of pre-fab, quick-to-build scale model house kit, architects can spend less time with tedious adhesives and more time modifying ...

The 9/11 Gift Shop Sells Tacky Tchotchkes Because We'll Buy Them

2014-05-27T17:51:00-04:00

By most measures, the museum, designed by Davis Brody Bond and Snøhetta, has met the difficult challenge of telling the emotionally charged story of 9/11 at Ground Zero. The gift shop, however, has detracted from the achievement, with tabloids and blogs lambasting the “darkness” hoodies, toy firetrucks, “survivor tree” earrings, and 9/11 cheese plate for sale in the gift shop.

Archinect's Last Minute Gift Guide - 2012 Archinect Calendar and T-Shirts!

2011-12-15T18:25:22-05:00

Need a last minute Christmas gift idea? For an architect even? – Worry not, we got you covered with cool gifts from the Archinect Shop that even Santa will envy you for!

In Focus is Archinect's series of features dedicated to profiling the photographers who help make the work of architects look that much better.

This 2012 calendar celebrates the work of twelve outstanding architectural photographers previously featured on Archinect, including Nelson Girrado, Jordi Miralles, Luc Roymans, Eugeni Pons, Amy Barkow, Leonardo Finotti, Miguel Coelho, Thomas Volstorf, Simon Gardiner, GRIDUO, Kevin Bauman, and Kim Høltermand.

All profits from the calendar will be donated to Architecture for Humanity.

Get the Archinect In Focus Calendar here.

Forget the Frank Lloyd Wright book, architects want Archinect T-Shirts for Christmas! Orders placed before December 21 will arrive in time for Christmas (for orders within the USA). Act fast, many of the popular designs ...

how to buy a present for an architect

2011-12-15T13:44:38-05:00

A certain flintiness, an inability to keep from commenting on the settings of movies, sensitivity to bright lights and impatience with the ordinary are common side-effects of architecture education and practice. These quirks can mean real headaches for those who, already under the pressure of finding good and appropriate gifts for normal people, are met with the challenge of finding a good gift for an architect...