6 Architectural Watches Crafted by Pritzker Prize Winners

Horology and architecture have a common goal; thus, when horology is introduced in the architecture of a correct time measurement, they become more than just tools used to mark time; they become expressions of architectural brilliance. Six watches, all designed by the Pritzker Architecture Prize winners, can be seen as a visual embodiment of harmony and usefulness linked in a marriage of remarkable beauty.

LeBond Souto de Moura by Eduardo Souto de Moura

Eduardo Souto de Moura, the luminous name among Portuguese architects, also stands via his documentary on the LeBond Souto de Moura watch, which is as simple as the architecture of this watch. What could be read being turned upside down is a 30-degree face-off, designed the other way around, with the 12 degrees in place of the 1. Souto de Moura's intent is clear: to create a unique design that breaks away from the typical and enhances the field of vision for the wearer while displaying his eagerness for perfection, in this case, designing the smallest element.

Serpenti Tuboga x Tadao Ando by Tadao Ando

When it comes to Tadao Ando, whose name is recognized for his ultimate dexterity in concrete and lighting, the Serpenti Tubogas x Tadao Ando watch of Bulgari undoubtedly serves as a blank page for his distinctive inspiration. Taking advantage of its transient beauty, the building by Ando appears to be a fragment of nature, which gives credit to the Snake-themed Serpenti from Bulgari. The watch, however, represents timing and cyclical transformation, thus marking Ando's strong bond and depicting him as a person who can insert timeless elegance in nature.

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Tambour Moon Flying Tourbillon Poinçon de Genève Sapphire Frank Gehry by Frank Gehry

The architect, Frank Gehry's fascinating world of high architecture, finds its place on the wings of astronomy in the Tambor Moon Flying Tourbillon Sapphire Poinçon de Genève. Conceived for Louis Vuitton by the Stardust designer Marina Breggar, this transparent orb not only resembles the sail-like forms of Gehry's iconic architecture but also works as a piece of wearable art. Taking on a block of sapphire altogether, its undulating outlines remind us of a flow and motion comparable to the architect's numerous dream cast surfaces.

Lebond Siza by álvaro Siza

álvaro Siza - apart from his participation in transforming space through architecture- is the one whose proposal has been put into the Lebond Siza and Cauny X Siza watches. Recreating the footprints of his prior architectural counterparts, including the Leça swim and ming pool composition, Siza's works manifest a seamless interaction between parametric accuracy and clean style. The angular shapes, the reduced lines, and the stripped-down aesthetics seem to reciprocate the mastery of form and function represented by Siza in his creations, emerging as the quintessence of timeless design.

Cauny X Siza by álvaro Siza

álvaro Siza collaborated with Cauny director Filipe Costa Almeida to create a timepiece described simply as "a watch that looks like a watch." These watches feature a super-slim casing, steel bezel, sapphire glass face, and a leather bracelet, embodying understated elegance and timeless design.

Rafael Moneo x Cauny 

Therefore, Rafael Moneo's creation, in conjunction with Cauny's, implements a square watch into the architectural past. Moneo's design recaptures the ancient charm of Spanish sundials through Madrid's Atocha Station, which is its inspiration. The hours and minute hands are displayed in tall, skinny fonts in Roman numerals. The single facade of the sundial brings you back to the era when sighting powers were limited to manual methods of reading sundials only.

These six watches, in tandem, go beyond the limits of timepiece manufacturing, going beyond time control to symbolize the essence of the progress in the structural era. From a quietly thoughtful interpretation of time from Souto de Moura to Gehry's astonishing masterpiece of transparency, each watch represents an architect's creative genius at an incremental level. While the corporations of architecture and watchmaking gather in a single pool, those who create the architectural watches become a sign that demonstrates how the world opens up when design and functionality meet.

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