25 Gift Ideas For Architects (2021)
The charm of a good gift lasts long after it’s unwrapped
We’ve put up a list of 25 worthwhile gifts full of pretty little details. Gifts that will enhance your architect’s productivity, delight them with their beauty or simply make their life happier. Design is always slick and thoughtful and Form and function are at all times on point with these presents — curating to meet the needs of today: Less stress and more snacks, self-care, and travel.
It’s important to mention that we genuinely love these products and no, we haven’t been bribed to include them in this list (though we’ll happily agree to be corrupted next year).
Without further ado, these are, as of 2021, our favourite seasonal gifts for everyone who appreciates good design, naughty or nice…
(If you are the architect in question, make sure you share the article with the right person)
1. Architectour Guide of London
We are confident that 2022 will bring some normality — please 2022! — so we are getting our building wishlist ready. But even if you can’t visit all the places you want just yet, our beloved London Guide will take you there from the moment you open the first page. Plan your future explorations with this guide and, if you want to build up to the experience, be informed that no images will spoil your visits; this book is only made of sketches.
Perfect for: the experienced traveller
Price: £50
Buy here ⇄
2. London Brick vase
Some of London’t most iconic buildings are made of exposed bricks — Westminster Cathedral, 10 Downing street and Brutalist star The World’s End Estate. Hence this vase is a symbol of London and its architecture. Each product is individually handmade in slip-cast earthenware ceramic and finished in a variety of high gloss on-trend colours. Great for your architect, even if they can’t keep flowers alive.
Perfect for: the brick lover
Price: £36
Buy here ⇄
3. 2v Geodesic Dome Kit
Successfully funded through Kickstarter (we’ve been there too!), hubs has created an easy kit to put a dome together. What do you have in mind? A hangout space for children in the backyard? A chill-out place to entertain guests? A greenhouse for seedlings? A creative space in the office? A quiet space for yoga at home? You name it.
Perfect for: the playful architect
Price: £139
Buy here ⇄
4. Coffee/Tea set by Sarah Miller
We love Sarah Miller illustrations, especially those from the The Chelsea Collection: An array of stunning birds in an enchanted garden setting, embellished with rich 22 carat gold detailing. This is the sort of gift you won’t buy to yourself but that you’ll cherish forever when given to you.
Perfect for: the tea enthusiast
Price: £60–£300
Buy here ⇄
5. Manfrotto tripod and head
Photographing buildings is a serious business, one that comes with heavy gear and back pain. When you see that wonderful (and impossible) Insta shot, you can’t help but wonder if the photographer is ok. Hint: she’s not. And even if this tripod won’t make it better, the precision of their photos will be worth it. Pinky promise.
Perfect for: the photography lover with back pain
Price: £899.95 and £279.95
Buy here and here ⇄
6. Marshall speakers
If you’re looking for a small Bluetooth speaker with powerful sound, long-lasting battery, look no further. The Acton II speaker is a powerful addition to your house and, more specifically, to your covid life. Because music makes everything better, but beautiful objects that perform their musical function well is the ultimate objective of life.
Perfect for: the form and function guardian of the house
Price: £239.99
Buy here ⇄
7. ‘How to Avoid a Climate Disaster’ by Bill Gates
Bill Gates has spent a decade investigating the causes and effects of climate change. With the help of experts in the fields of physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, political science, and finance, he has focused on what must be done in order to stop the planet’s slide toward certain environmental disaster. In this book, he not only explains why we need to work toward net-zero emissions of greenhouse gases, but also details what we need to do to achieve this profoundly important goal. A must read.
Perfect for: the committed architect
Price: £20
Buy here ⇄
8. Elliptical machine
Working from home can be a blessing — architects have happily been designing their buildings from home since even before PC (Pre-Covid). This new form of office presents to many as an opportunity to be even more productive but at the great risk of never leaving their desks. This new home gadget, though big, will help you in your mission to work hard and play hard. Just for the record, it’s a fraction of the size of most ellipticals and treadmills, because size matters.
Perfect for: those who spend too much time in front of a computer
Price: £1,949
Buy here ⇄
9. Muni Pottery 5-week Course
Amongst the many relaxing and fun things one can do in the design field, pottery is perhaps the most sociable. So if you are trying to understand the basics of pottery, learn the key techniques and make a few pieces to take home — while also learning how to socialise again — we highly recommend taking up a course. Muni here in London has just launched and we have had quite a bit of fun recently. And of course, the place is run by architects.
Perfect for: the creatives who need to try something new
Price: 5-week course £200
Buy here ⇄ Use code ARCHITECTOUR10 for 10% discount
10. The New Ballpoint by Minimalux
British design brand Minimalux has updated the classic ballpoint pen with a set of four precious-metal editions — elevating your Moleskine journaling even higher. We’ve spoken about the importance of white space as a tool for writing and the significance of pen and paper for the process. Nevertheless, you know what they say, our best ideas never happen in our desks, but in the shower!
Perfect for: the journal writers
Price: £135
Buy here ⇄
11. The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum Model Kit
Modelling is a fun aspect of being an architect, unless, you know, you have to do it all day long. Anyways, modelling something different, that doesn’t involve a client can be quite refreshing. We’ll confess we’ve used LEGO in the past as an alternative to visiting the psychologist but in this case is because we love (and when we say love we mean we’re obsessed) with this wooden Frank Lloyd Wright building in New York (new guide in the making).
Perfect for: the model experts
Price: £68.75
Buy here ⇄
12. Victorinox Pocket Knife (Customised)
Victorinox, the biggest manufacturer of pocket knives in the world, was founded in 1884 as the workshop of Karl Elsener in Ibach. On the death of his mother in 1909, Elsener named his company ‘Victoria’ in her honour. Over the years Victorinox knives have not only been taken to Mount Everest and the Arctic, but they are also permanently at New York Museum of Modern Art’s Design Collection. Another handy tool for form follows function.
Perfect for: the handy men and women
Price: £79
Buy here ⇄
13. A much deserved wellness treatment
If your dear architect talks a lot about Delirious New York by Koolhaas and is fascinated by all the unbuilt architecture in general, he definitely needs less philosophising and more relaxing. Let’s put books aside (maybe just for a day) and enjoy a facial, body massage, spa or whatever it is that will finally relax that mind of his.
Perfect for: those who’ve earned a break
Price: Support your local business :)
14. Extreme Hydration Concentrate Hand Cream
Although this year we aren’t mentioning Harry Potter, this one should indeed be on the list of tricks and potions. This amazing cream creates a non-sticky, non-greasy glove around your hands and for cold weather it’s the absolute best. We’ve tried dozens of hand creams over the years and there are possibly only two that restore our poor and battered hands after a hard day’s work modelling. The other one is on the Christmas Gift Guide of 2019.
Perfect for: those who work with their hands
Price: £17
Buy here ⇄
15. Brutalist vases by Tiipoi
Plants have an enormous capacity to transform atmospheres, both aesthetically and regarding the quality of the air. After having lots of plants (and admittedly also killing a bunch of them), we’ve come to the realisation that plants (and trees) are hard to keep. Partly because 2021 has been difficult, but mostly because we hope that not being able to keep our plants has meant more travels. To the point, you don’t need plants for these vases as they are beautiful by themselves.
Perfect for: the Brutalist fans
Price: £79
Buy here ⇄
16. Matcha Tea set
Anything involving caffeine is a good gift in general as there aren’t many architects who are able to survive without it. Matcha is the goddess of all green teas — the richest source of immune-boosting nutrients and healthy antioxidants. Unique matcha contains the amino acid known as L-theanine, so the caffeine component is processed in a slow-release way within the body. Why is this good? It means focused energy without the caffeine j-j-jitters! To wake up, pour water, stir the powder and plan the day until the delightful liquid invades your lips is one of life’s greatest pleasures (that and working on AutoCAD for a day without any fatal errors).
Perfect for: the caffeine addict
Price: from £20
Buy here ⇄
17. Vitra DSR Eames chair
Having a design chair — the naughtiest of dreams for an architect. If your dear architect has absolutely everything in life, this might be the truly one thing to make her happy. Be warned though, she will protect it as Gollum protects the ring and nobody would be allowed to actually sit down. In fact, she might never dare sit down herself.
Perfect for: the Eames fan
Price: £280
Buy here ⇄
18. A National Trust Subscription
This is the other repeated gift of last year’s list (only 2 made the cut as you can see). There are so many places in the UK that are worth visiting, and we’d like them to be there for when all this goes away. That’s why supporting the National Trust at this point is more important than ever.
Perfect for: the explorer
Price: £72
Buy here ⇄
19. Dyson Hair Blow-dry
We need to confess that we’ve bought dozens of Dyson products just because they were beautiful — a fan that looked like an air conditioning unit at the time of Europe’s heat wave and a stand cordless stick vacuum cleaner that is painfully not different than the regular one amongst other impulsive purchases. However, this hair dryer is not only beautiful, its technology is revolutionary.
Perfect for: those who take their Teams calls seriously
Price: £299.99
Buy here ⇄
20. TIDAL Music Subscription
The basic premise of Spotify and Tidal is the same. Both allow you to stream music, create playlists, download songs for offline listening, and discover new tracks based on your taste, among other things. However, there are loads of big and small differences between the two services. Sound quality is where Tidal has Spotify beat. And that is what matters most to us.
Perfect for: the quality over quantity seeker
Price: from £9 per month
Buy here ⇄
21. Brutalist Tour of London
The most interesting tour in London since 2019 is hosted by Architectour and it’s already making an impression (according to our fans, but mainly to our mothers). Ok, maybe that’s an exaggeration but if you love Brutalism, joining one of our Brutalist Tours and see these gems in a real-life scale will have quite an impression on you. Check our London Guide + Brutalist Tour on the gifts section.
Perfect for: the explorers
Price: £140
Buy here ⇄
22. Candle of Aqua di Parma Oh l’Amore
We’ve tried a bunch of expensive candles and while Feu de Bois is the one and only, we’ve discovered some others that are worth the coins. This candle smells of summer in Italy. It feels like the warmth of the seaside in a candle and in all honesty, December and January would be unbearable without it.
Perfect for: those who work from home
Price: £59
Buy here ⇄
23. Samsonite Lightweith Cabin Suitcase
Talking about making winter more bearable, let’s plan future travels! Assuming short trips are more feasible during these times of uncertainty, a small cabin suitcase should suffice. We’ve tried — and arguably broken — a lot. We’ve suffered the pain of their weight and the unease of their wheels. That’s why we highly recommend this Samsonite model: 4-wheel spinner, less than 2 Kg and great value for money.
Perfect for: the experienced traveller
Price: £179
Buy here ⇄
24. A photo book by Saal Digital
They say that life is what happens while you are busy making other plans. What other plans? We hear you say. We know, this pandemic seems like forever but you’ll regret not using the extra time you now have to compile a visual list of memories. A photo album of buildings, memories and trips will always make you smile. Better be in the best quality frame!
Perfect for: the architect who has many memories
Price: from £59.99
Buy here ⇄
25. Dark chocolate to kiss goodnight
An ounce of dark chocolate before bed is something that we doing lately, and that seems to be working wonders. Antioxidants and magnesium of natural origins kick your metabolism before going to sleep in a positive way and the next day you have more energy than ever before. There are loads of articles about it! Any dark chocolate of quality will do the job. However, we’ve left a link for Lindt’s because nothing is better than Swiss chocolate!
Perfect for: the ones that need extra help to fall asleep
Price: from £2
Buy here ⇄
Shopping for overly-picky, demanding and self-righteous architects should be fun. We hope you enjoyed this list and are now full of ideas for this Christmas. If you’re around London during the festive season, make sure to check our London Guide or book one of our tours.
And now… let’s bring on the cookies and milk! Ho Ho Ho! 🎅🏼🎄