It started with a Brexit Christmas and 400 architects from 60 countries.

In 2016, María Spada was working at a large architecture studio in London. Every year, the studio held a competition to decorate their iconic building. That year (the year of Brexit) she wanted to do something that brought people together across cultures.

She noticed that some building floor plans looked like snowflakes. Radial geometries. Perfect, mathematical, beautiful. And she had a hunch: every country probably had a building like that.

She was right. Over 300 emails arrived with proposals from architects around the world. She selected 40, redrew them, abstracted them, and laser-cut them in white acrylic. The result was a giant mobile in the studio entrance hall, an architectural snowfall, one building per country.

People came with their families to find the snowflake that represented their home.

With the leftover acrylic, she made small Archiflakes to hang on Christmas trees so people could take it home. They sold out in three days. The proceeds went to a children's school in Kenya.

Then the architecture press picked it up: Archdaily, Designboom, Archilovers, Arquitectura Viva... And people outside the architecture world started writing in, asking where they could buy one.

That was the moment. Architecture -something technical, distant, intimidating- could be worn. Could be carried. Could be loved by anyone who saw beauty in a building.

That's why Spada Studio exists.

Want to hear the full story in María's own words? Watch the full interview HERE.

Spada Studio. Architectural jewellery designed by an architect. Handmade in Spain.