A city on a chessboard

The idea of ​​creating the Skyline Chess came from Ian Flood and Chris Prosser, two architects based in London who decided to combine their passion for chess and architecture.

With the aim to bring architectural beauty of the city to the chessboard, the pieces were originally designed, handmade and then 3D printed, based on some of the most iconic buildings of the city of London.

Each piece was created considering its architectural and symbolic value for the city as well as its value on the chessboard. Thereby the pawn is shaped after the traditional London’s terraced house; the bishop owes its form to the building known as the "gherkin" designed by the architect Norman Foster; the knight is played by the London Eye wheel; the rook corresponds to the iconic Big Ben; the Queen is played by the most dominant building in London skyline, the Shard of Glass by Renzo Piano; and the King is played the majestic Canary Wharf.

If you like this idea, you can get first hand some of the pieces and contribute to the crowdfunding campaign that Ian and Chris have recently launched on kickstarter website, and help transform this prototype into an available product in the market, in acrylic or metal.

The authors reveal that they have in the pipeline projects to Paris and New York, but they want to go even further, the aim is to create a new experience of chess where you can choose from some of the most iconic cities of the world and even play with different cities as adversaries.

Find out more at: http://www.skyline-chess.com/