Gift buying for the design-savvy can be an intimidating and time-consuming task. In the spirit of giving, we asked six architects and designers to do the head scratching for us. Here are their suggestions for showing clients, friends, colleagues, and more a little year-end appreciation.
Recommended by: Bob Borson, AIA, principal, Malone Maxwell Borson Architects, Dallas
Recommended by: Jenny Wu, partner, Oyler Wu Collaborative, Los Angeles
This well-made yet affordable felt bag is perfect for someone who appreciates a harmonious balance of form and function. Made by Los Angeles accessories label M.R.K.T., the tote comes in architect-friendly black and gray colors, as well as a deep purple and a vibrant tangerine (shown). âI love its clean lines and versatility,â Wu says. âIt is a bag you can carry both casually and for work.â
mrktstore.com
Reproduction No. 1, MOS Architects | $80
Recommended by: Allison Newmeyer, co-founder, Design With Company, Chicago
Did you know that one of the modernist architect Adolf Loosâ earliest designs was a scented candle? Neither did we. Impress your friends with an authentic reproduction of the deep-black-hued candle made of wax and pine oil, which a young Loos crafted as a student in Josef Hoffmannâs Wiener WerkstĂ€tte. âRecipients of this gift can fill their rooms with the delicious scent of a forest near Loosâ boyhood home,â Newmeyer says.
shop.mos-office.net
Recommended by: Alex Mustonen, partner, Snarkitecture, Brooklyn, N.Y.
In a world where the more exotic bird species tend to steal the spotlight (weâre looking at you, flamingos) itâs good to see the humble New York pigeon getting some love. Hand knitted from 100% Alpaca wool by a fair trade network in Bolivia, Various Projectsâ stuffed pigeon is the perfect gift for city-loving kids. âThis is a beautiful version of an often unpopular New York creature that acts as a nice, fuzzy reminder of things both good and bad from the city,â Mustonen says.
projectno8.com
Recommended by: Toru Hasegawa, co-creator, Morpholio, New York
These incredibly detailed and finely crafted model reproductions of famous architectural buildings are handmade in Sussex, England, from strong plaster while window frames and doors are detailed in etched brass. âThese models are something that garners appreciation of the finished product,â Borson says. âYou get it, you look at it, you love it ⊠but you donât play with it.â
chiselandmouse.com
Designed by multitasking London architect Sam Jacob, this two-tone, knitted wood-plank-themed scarf is the perfect sartorial statement for any timber-obsessed architect. âJust donât try to throw it into the fireplace,â Newmeyer says.
samjacob.com
Recommended by: Alex Mustonen
Crafted for the legendary Italian furniture brand Gufram in 1971 by designers Giorgio Ceretti, Piero Derossi, and Riccardo Rosso, the unconventional Pratone chaise lounge challenged the idea of what furniture could be. As subversive today as it was then, Pratoneâs oversized bendy blades of polyurethane foam grass encourage a luxuriousânot to mention priceyârepose. âThis one is more from my personal wish list,â Mustonen says. âI love Gufram, and this piece in particular makes me want to get lost in it for a weekend.â
gufram.it
Recommended by: Toru Hasegawa
Hot off the production line, Appleâs new iPad Pro is not only super-sized, itâs also packed with design-friendly features, Hasegawa says. âWith this device, Apple has made a direct investment in architects and creatives of all types who work with detail, drawing, and modeling, and need mobile tools to stay productive on-site or on the road,â he says. âThe apps that will be enabled by this device are sure to be game-changing for design professionals of all types.â Among them, Morpholioâs updated Trace.
apple.com
Noah Kalina
Recommended by: Allison Newmeyer
Giving a shout-out to ARCHITECT Gift Guide co-contributor Alex Mustonen and his firm Snarkitecture, Newmeyer suggests the Brooklyn, N.Y.âbased practiceâs Broken Ornament as a yuletide offering for style-conscious clients. âThe Broken Ornament is a playful transformation of the archetypal Christmas ornament,â says Newmeyer of the distinctive gypsum cement bauble. âIt can hide in your clientâs tree as a hidden wink to those who discover it.â
âThe sound is terrific, the range shockingly good, and the design is minimally fantastic,â says Borson of the Mini Jambox, which he borrows from his daughter for the occasional working weekend in the office. âItâs wireless and holds a charge for days. Gotta say, I think this Bluetooth technology thing is going to work out.â
jawbone.com
âI first discovered these shoes as a gift from a friend based in Asia,â Wu says of the fun and flexible sneakers, which hail from South Korea and were an instant hit with her young son. âStudies show that as our children are learning to walk, itâs best to be barefoot as much as possible. These shoes were designed to allow movement that mimics being barefoot, while protecting their feet.â
attipas.com
âI like to give a good âart of photographyâ book to a client based on their interests,â says Tirmizi, who recently gifted Phaidonâs HĂ©lĂšne Binet monograph to one of her discerning clients. The limited-edition Composing Space: The Photographs of HĂ©lĂšne Binet is the only monograph on the work of the London-based Swiss-French architectural photographer who shoots solely in analog.
phaidon.com
Recommended by: Toru Hasegawa
The Apple Pencil, marketed for use with the new iPad Pro, is capable of single-pixel resolution, responds to pressure and tilt, and offers up to 12 hours of battery life, all of which makes sketching, rendering, and marking up drawings fluid on the way to beautiful results. âWe think Apple’s greatest gift to design was bringing the hand to the screen, and this just sweetened the deal,â Hasegawa says.
apple.com
Classic Marking Products
Recommended by: Bob Borson
âYou canât go wrong with getting your favorite architect a book as a present,â Borson hedges. Even better is to give them this reassuringly weighty embosser so they can label the book as their own. âAll of my books have my name on the inside cover pageâa practice that developed out of bringing my books up to the office so frequently,â Borson says.
public.classicmarking.com
Recommended by: Jenny Wu
Recommended by: Asifa Tirmizi
It seems that most kids today can operate an iPad before theyâre out of diapers. With this in mind, Tirmizi recommends Fintieâs heavy-duty ethylene-vinyl acetate foam iPad cover as the perfect accessory for tiny techies, not only for its lightweight nature but also because it protects the (pricey) technology within.
finite.com
Recommended by: Toru Hasegawa
These are, indeed, the droids notebooks youâre looking for. âWe know that kids need help keeping track of all that homework,â Hasegawa says. âTeaching good habits starts with good tools that make organization and planning feel creative, fun, and special.â Choose from a limited-edition Stormtrooper- or Kylo Renânotebook, or get organized for the year ahead with an R2-D2 or C-3PO planner.
store.moleskine.com
Noah Kalina
Recommended by: Alex Mustonen
Sure to delight even the most hard-to-please client, this classic white candle looks nondescript at first glance. Upon closer inspection, an offset wick hints that there may be more here than meets the eye. As the candle burns down, a metal model of a New York landmarkâthe Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, or the Statue of Libertyâis gradually revealed from within the wax. âThis is one of my favorite objects that we’ve designed,â Mustonen says. âSimple, yet surprising.â
shop.snarkitecture.com