Mechanical pencil applied at an angle. When excess vertical pressure is applied on the lead, the lead is automatically retracted inwards. Higher-end mechanical pencils often feature a lead hardness grade indicator and sometimes feature a retractable lead guide pipe. This allows the lead guide pipe to retract back into the pencil body, which will keep it protected in storage and during transit and makes it 'pocket-safe'. In spite of the name, pencil leads do not contain the toxic chemical element lead, but are typically made with graphite and clay, or plastic polymers. Compared to standard pencils, mechanical pencils have a smaller range
Lead Pencil Studio Lead Pencil Studio Lead Pencil Studio is the working name of the art and architecture collaborative founded in 1997 by Annie Han and Daniel Mihalyo in order to cooperatively pursue installation art, site-specific art and functional architecture. They are winners of the 2007 Founder's Rome Prize in Architecture from the American Academy in Rome, and were recognized in 2006 as an 'Emerging Voices' by the Architectural League of New York. Their practice is self-described as "architecture in reverse...our projects are everything about architecture with none of its function...spaces with no greater purpose than to be perceived and question the certainty