Nothing illustrates the evolution and birth of a piece of architecture like the original sketches and blueprints created by its architects, engineers and designers. These are historical documents that convey both beauty and technical expertise that can be appreciated by all. We seek to make these accessible to all by printing them on quality t-shirts and, eventually, other reasonably priced everyday items.

The concept behind our product is that of creating a line of blueprint t-shirts that would celebrate important pieces of architecture and design. These are blueprints of buildings that are revolutionary, landmarks that are emblematic of their time in history. Some have become part of popular culture; others are landmarks that people travel to see.

Blueprints and schematics both beautiful works of art, drawn by skilled artists, and convey technical expertise. They have heretofore not been fully exploited as something that everyone can enjoy. Wearing a Blueprint t-shirt is a way in which people can convey their love of design, or their love of a particular place, a particular building, someplace that they have been that moved them, or somewhere that they wish to go.

 

Our McDonald’s blueprint t-shirt is based on an original blueprint of the the 1950’s golden arches restaurant. This was designed by Stanley Clark Meston in 1952 and is the best known example of googie, a branch of mid-century modern. Our blueprint t-shirt is a modification of this original design, removing some of the technical language so that the wearer can fully appreciate the drawings of the building.

We created our Bauhaus blueprint t-shirt from scratch. We searched for an original blueprint, but were unable to find one, and so drew our elevations in AutoCAD from photos of the building. These were then modified and arranged on our t-shirt to create the simple, understated design that reflects the aesthetic of the Bauhaus building, an iconic modern building. It contains a quote from the Bauhaus Manifesto.

The Blueprint t-shirt that we created for the Brazilian Parliament (Congresso Nacional Do Brazil) was also created from scratch, by drawing it in AutoCAD from photos. This design is different from most in that we have added shading. This is because the building is so minimal in its design that we felt that something had to be added to make it visually interesting. However, beyond this shading, it is still the typical understated blueprint t-shirt that we offer.

The Brooklyn Bridge blueprint t-shirt is a modification of a blueprint that was created by the Historic American Building Record. The original drawing obviously had more detail than we could put on our t-shirt design. We believed that this iconic building, designed by John A. Roebling was a part of history that is loved by many and that belonged in our collection of blueprint t-shirts. Rather than being purely structural as many bridges have been, this bridge was designed in the Gothic Revival Style and was an engineering marvel of its time.

The blueprint t-shirt that we created from for the Carbide and Carbon Building in Chicago is based on original blueprints that we recreated in AutoCAD, and then modified and arranged into our design with adobe illustrator. The building is an Art Deco masterpiece designed by the famous Burnham Brothers architectural firm.

Our blueprint t-shirt for Casa Mila, also known as La Pedrera, was drawn in AutoCAD from photos, and then arranged onto our t-shirt with Adobe Illustrator. It contains two main elements, an elevation of the corner of the building and an enlargement of the sculpture of the roof which hovers over the main building elevation. It is both one of the best known of the works of Antoni Gaudi and one of the most famous buildings in Barcelona. It is an example of Catalan Art Nouveau architecture.

The Chrysler Building is perhaps the world’s most famous Art Deco creation. We have created our blueprint t-shirt for the Chrysler Building by modifying an original blueprint of the façade of the building, which includes markers for the heights and floors of the building. Next to that, we have placed our renderings of some of the more famous architectural elements of the Chrysler Building.

The Edgar J. Kaufmann house, best known as Falling water, is the best known and most celebrated of the houses designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Our Blueprint t-shirt of this building is a modification of a blueprint drawn by the Historical American Building’s Survey, a division of the National Parks Service. The buildings style is Modern, but is also referred to as Organic.

The Eiffel Tower Blueprint t-shirt was inspired by some original blueprints that we found online. We used this as the basis of drawings that we created in AutoCAD and modified in illustrator to create our design. Designed by Gustave Eiffel for the 1889 World’s Fair in Paris, it is both an engineering marvel one of the most famous buildings in the world. Its architectural style is Victorian or Structural Expressionist.

Designed by William F. Lamb and constructed by the Starrett Brothers, the Empire State Building is world famous and emblematic of New York City, the Empire State Building blueprint t-shirt had to be part of our collection. While it is also in the Art Deco Style, it is best known for having been the tallest building in the world for nearly 40 years. Our renderings of the building were inspired by blueprints and photos of the Empire State Building that we found on the web and prepared specifically for our design. The left side of the design features a schematic of the façade of the building, while the right side includes renderings of the top of the building and the main entryway.

Chicago landmark the Fredrick C. Robie House is another one of Frank Lloyd Wright’s works and perhaps the best known of his houses in Chicago and the best known of his Prairie Style homes. This is Our Robie House blueprint t-shirt was drawn from scratch based on pictures of the building.

When it was built, the Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao was described as the “greatest building of our time.” As such, we had to include a Guggenheim Bilbao blueprint t-shirt in our collection. The building was designed by Frank Ghery for the city of Bilbao, Spain and is the world’s best known example of Deconstructivism. This building is credited with revitalizing the downtown area of Bilbao.

The Heydar Aliyev Center was designed by Zaha Hadid, and is a performing arts center in Baku, Azerbaijan. It was built as part of an attempt to use great architecture to make the city a showpiece and a world class city. Our blueprint t-shirt was rendered in AutoCAD from various pictures of the Heydar Aliyev Center and arranged into this design in Adobe Illustrator.

The Houses of Parliament, also known as the Palace of Westminster, is probably the most recognized building in London, England. It was designed by Charles Barry and Augustus Pugin in the Gothic Revival Style, or Perpendicular Gothic style. In their collaboration, Charles Barry designed the structure and Augustus Pugin provided the Gothic Detail. Our Houses of Parliament blueprint t-shirt was rendered to highlight the best known elements of the building.

Part of our National Monuments blueprint t-shirt collection Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is an example of Georgian-Style Architecture. It was designed by Edmund Wooley and Andrew Hamilton, and was the building in which the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution were ratified. Our Independence Hall blueprint t-shirt is based on a blueprint prepared by the Historic American Buildings Survey for the National Park Service.

Our National Monuments blueprint t-shirt collection includes this design for the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C. It was designed by John Russell Pope of Eggers & Higgins in the neoclassical style. Our Jefferson Memorial blueprint t-shirt is based on a blueprint created by the Historical American Buildings Survey for the National Park Service.

The Lincoln Memorial is the most famous building in our National Monuments blueprint t-shirt collection. Created in the image of a Greek Temple, it was designed by Henry Bacon in the neoclassical style. Our Lincoln Memorial blueprint t-shirt design is based on blueprints that were created by the Historical American Buildings Survey for the National Park Service.

Notre Dame de Paris is probably the most recognized and visited gothic cathedral in the world. As such it belonged in our collection of blueprint t-shirts, even though this building would not have been drawn in blueprint. This Gothic Masterpiece was commissioned by the Abbott Suger in 1163. We drew this blueprint t-shirt design from photos and diagrams that we found and is one of two Paris landmarks in our collection.

Another building in our National Monuments blueprint t-shirt collection is the Smithsonian Institution. This Gothic Revival building was designed by James Renwick Jr. has elements of the Norman, Saxon and Romanesque styles and was modeled after Universities in England designed in the Collegiate Gothic style.

The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum is another one of Frank Lloyd Wright’s masterpieces, and the only one located in New York. The Guggenheim Museum is a museum of Non-objective painting designed in the modern style to be a counter point to the Beaux Arts style of most museums. We created our Guggenheim blueprint t-shirt design from a photo of the building from the 1960’s.

One of our newer blueprint t-shirt designs is t-shirt of the Space Shuttle, designed by North American Rockwell. The inclusion of this design reflects Architee’s desire to highlight not just architecture, but revolutionary designs in multiple disciplines, including engineering and product design schematics. The Space Shuttle blueprint t-shirt is based on an original blueprint by North American Rockwell.

The Sydney Opera House is a world famous building designed by Jorn Utzon in the Modern / Expressionist style. It houses the Sydney Symphony, Sydney Theater and Australian Ballet. We drew the Sydney Opera House blueprint t-shirt design in AutoCAD based on photos of the building and blueprints by Jorn Utzon and the engineering firm of Ove Arup and Partners.

Among the Chicago buildings that we have in our collection is the Tribune Tower. Our Tribune Tower blueprint t-shirt features a perspective drawing of the main entryway of this iconic Chicago landmark. The building was designed by the architecture firm of Howells and Hood (John Mead Howells and Raymond Hood) in the Gothic Revival style to be the headquarters of the Chicago Tribune. Our blueprint t-shirt design is based on photos of the building.

The TWA Flight Center in New York’s JFK airport was designed by Eero Saarinen in a neofuturistic style. Neofuturism is a branch of modern which draws from Art Deco and Googie. This New York Masterpiece is an iconic mid-century modern building, and thus needed to be part of our modern collection. Our TWA Flight Center blueprint t-shirt was based on a blueprint prepared by the Historic American Buildings Survey.

In our quest to include engineering schematics in our collection, we have created a blueprint t-shirt of the original Volkswagen Beetle. This iconic design was known the world over. It was originally designed by Ferdinand Porsche in the 1930’s but only put into production after World War II. Our Volkswagen Beatle blueprint t-shirt is based on an original blueprint drawn by Volkswagen in 1967.

The Washington Monument blueprint t-shirt is part of our National Monuments collection. This building, designed by architect Robert Mills in the neoclassical style, is one of the buildings that define Washington D.C. Our design is based on a blueprint of the Washington Monument that was prepared by the Historic American Buildings Survey.

The White House was designed by James Hoban in the Federal Style. It is an essential part of our National Monuments collection as it is one of the best known buildings in Washington D.C. Our White House blueprint t-shirt design is based on a blueprint created by the Historic American Buildings Survey.

I lived in New York City on 9/11/2001 and worked just a few blocks away from the Twin Towers. To commemorate the falling of the World Trade Center, I thought that I should create a shirt that commemorated the modern engineering of what were once the tallest buildings in the world. In days and months after 9/11, I experienced their absence on the New York skyline. As such, I created two versions of the World Trade Center blueprint t-shirt. Version one features some of the structural drawings of Minoru Yamasaki. Version two features the World Trade Center as it once appeared on the New York skyline.

The Wright Brother’s flyer was an engineering marvel of its time. As an iconic piece of American innovation and human ingenuity we thought it had a place in our collection of blueprint t-shirts. It was inspired by diagrams of the Wright Brother’s flyer that we found on the web.