Yasmin Ali

This month I have a product to review that brightened my day, in the form of a pocket sundial. The role of sunlight in design is something that architects have worked with for hundreds of years. There is a pocket version of an ancient tool available to help with solar studies, via a pocket sundial that is a thing of beauty. H. M. Kala’s Sundial, also subtitled as the Sunwatch, it tells the time of day by the position of the Sun, determined by aligning its moveable calibrated concentric rings. Its type is known as the universal equinoctial ring dial, a portable version originally designed in the 15^th Century for sailors.

The rings are called equatorial and meridian rings, or Gemma’s rings, and when not in use can be folded together into a small flat disk. The central bar holds a perforated slider that was positioned to the month and day according to a scale scribed on the bar. This style of sundial indicates true North and is aligned with the Earth's axis; to do this, the user configures the appropriate latitude setting to the location. This means the sundial also functions as a miniature model of the Earth and a compass.

As well as the illustrious history of its original invention, the Kala sundial has a proud family history and German engineering. It’s a remarkable instrument miniaturised to take on your travels.

Retails at 42euros+shipping // For more information see website here

With thanks to Matthaeus Kala of H.M.Kala

Another Studio is a London-based design company specialising in minature gifts inspired by architecture, the urban environment and gardens. They have a range of products perfect for architects' stocking fillers and Christmas gifts alike. Of their current products, the MONUmini is a range which reproduces iconic modernist architecture in fold-out minature steel kits. Examples include The Brandenburg Gate, Notre Dame, alongside London icons like Battersea Power Station (now Tate Modern), Tower Bridge and The Barbican, recently joined by the new release of the BT Tower edition. The European complement has also been joined by the new replica of the Centre Pompidou, Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers' High Tech masterpiece.

The dimensionality of the Pompidou Centre makes it an interesting building to model and have as a keepsake. The model once constructed is 3 cms high x 10cms wide. It comes as a kit including a single flat sheet of etched stainless steel, with instructions on how to fold and interlock the pieces to create the model. Another Studio's kits are designed to be easy and sturdy to post and construct, and include an A5 envelope and a brief history of the building.

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The MONUmini kits are priced at £15.50 each, and retail online from Another Studio’s webshop.
There are several shop stockists of Another Studio products, including the RIBA Bookshop and The Red Door Gallery in Edinburgh.
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another studio http://www.another-studio.com/

Architectural illustrator Thibaud Herem's London Deco is a recent release from London-based independent publisher Nobrow Press. Everything about this book exudes the finest quality and attention to detail: from the intricate rapidograph ink drawings, to its large-scale concertina format, its Fabriano 200gsm paper and hardback binding.

Herem has faithfully documented in great detail the facades of eleven examples of London art deco architecture. These include the icons The Hoover Factory, BBC Building and the much-loved Battersea Power Station, now Tate Modern, as well as some lesser-known and smaller-scale gems such as theatres, car workshops, Southgate Underground Station (now decommissioned), and Islington's Screen on the Green. RIBA's headquarters also fittingly makes an appearance.

This is part of the Nobrow Leprello series, which takes its namesake from the Italian for 'concertina'. The book folds out to be 3 metres long, and on the reverse are charming silhouettes of the buildings, each with a brief history. The hand drawn images themselves are amazingly intricate, with no digital enhancements.

London Deco makes a beautiful and affordable Christmas gift for architects, and the current first edition is one to treasure for years to come.

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Nobrow Press, Published October 2013, 20pgs, Hardback, 240 X 300mm, £25

Available at Nobrow shop and website, and RIBA Bookshop.

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Weblinks

Nobrow - here

Thibaud Herem - here

...Progress?

In synchrony with the timeous release of the iPhone 5, along came the update of OS6, also available for fellow iPhone 4 users. What it neglected to mention before the download was that this would replace the pre-loaded Google Maps app with a, sadly, much less well-executed Apple's own brand of Maps, which sees shadows obscure landmarks and whole areas shrouded under cloud, not to mention misnamed-and misplaced- towns. It is enough to make the average technocrat want to go back to paper, as this image from the London Underground aptly shows.

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Last week I received a lovely little surprise through the door. From Another Studio, the makers of 'Postcarden', the growable postcard garden, comes 'Matchcarden'. The follow-up product to the bestselling postcard format is a -yes, you've guessed it- a matchbox-sized grow-kit.

Images showing the matchcarden 'My city' range, courtesy of Another Studio

Small, but perfectly formed, each comes complete with a make-your-own facade kit with three possible townhouse styles. The seeds are cress (mustard seed); a fast-growing hardy herb that will give you a mini jungle in no time.

Designed and produced by Another Studio For Design, a London-based company enthusiastic about creating unique gifts for thoughtful givers.  Matchcarden is made in the UK, printed with vegetable based inks on FSC approved paperboard and using locally sourced seeds.

// With Thanks to Aimee Furnival of Another Studio