Chess Set inspired by London’s Skyline

Ian Flood and Chris Prosser seem to have hit on a simple formula. They’ve used a 3-D printer to build up playing pieces shaped like prominent London architectural landmarks, with the following selection:

• Pawn: a terraced house
• Bishop: the Gherkin, with it’s mitre-like profile
• Knight: the London Eye
• Rook: Big Ben tower
• Queen: the Shard
• King: 1 Canada Square

The current set is merely a prototype. The pair are raising money via Kickstarter so they can create sets using compression moulding, metals or glass.

According to the authors 3-D printing, for all its promise, is currently too slow and expensive to produce sets in the quantities and quality needed — though it would be a possibility if the technology advances. Meantime, anyone can pledge money towards the kickstarter here, who knows if it doesn’t hit the shops soon.