Comments on: Gigantically tiny scale models of cities

Gigantically tiny scale models of cities

jonson — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 20:59:15 -0800

scale model cities: moscow, new york, edinburgh, shanghai, shanghai (ii), nanjing, london, london (ii), old jerusalem, sydney, san francisco, 4th century rome, singapore, havana, beijing, cincinnati, pompeii, futurama (via)

By: jonson

jonson — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 21:00:42 -0800

For more on Futurama, a 37,000 sq ft "city of the future" from the 1939 World's Fair, see this excellent video (embedded mp4)

By: blahblahblah

blahblahblah — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 21:20:13 -0800

Neat!

By: Robot Johnny

Robot Johnny — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 21:23:19 -0800

[this is good]

By: b1tr0t

b1tr0t — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 21:24:25 -0800

I can't find Planet Express.

By: vacapinta

vacapinta — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 21:30:04 -0800

San Francisco was also done in Jell-O

By: snsranch

snsranch — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 21:33:32 -0800

This was an interesting photo from the Pompeii set. Much to see in this post. Thanks!

By: vacapinta

vacapinta — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 21:34:26 -0800

Also, I didnt see this link in there but at Roppongi Hills, they pretty much have them all.

By: owhydididoit

owhydididoit — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 21:45:30 -0800

Wow! Shanghai is huge.

By: jonson

jonson — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 21:46:20 -0800

There are a few more here (at the bottom of the page), my favorite of which is this model of Los Angeles in the year 1940.

By: cenoxo

cenoxo — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 21:56:41 -0800

[Godwin!] Berlin — Germania Welthauptstadt^ (more at Albert Speer.)

By: cytherea

cytherea — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 22:45:42 -0800

Apparently, the images from New York on the site haven't been updated for at least five years.

By: Heywood Mogroot

Heywood Mogroot — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 22:49:27 -0800

Tokyo

By: UbuRoivas

UbuRoivas — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 23:36:19 -0800

(am i the only one here who has an irresistible desire to trample across these things in a fluffy godzilla suit?)

By: BrotherCaine

BrotherCaine — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 23:40:18 -0800

UbuRoivas you'd probably be a little oversize. The last scale model city I saw was San Jose's downtown. A two foot tall Godzilla would have been just right.

By: UbuRoivas

UbuRoivas — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 00:07:22 -0800

BrotherCaine, this is life, not art. The movie version of Godzilla wasn't wielding a golf club either, but that sure as hell would be a part of *my* scenario!

By: 404 Not Found

404 Not Found — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 02:24:00 -0800

another quality post from jonson - diamonds on the inside

By: klaatu

klaatu — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 02:52:33 -0800

Nice. I live in the death star.

By: hwestiii

hwestiii — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 02:54:43 -0800

Cincinnati?

By: noble_rot

noble_rot — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 03:12:54 -0800

A model of the hydrological dynamics of the Bay Area. It occupies a warehouse and has a tide generator. They use it to study sediment flow, salt and fresh water mixing, and all sorts of other water use issues for the bay. It's definitely worth the visit if you can make it out to Sausalito. Photos.

By: kcds

kcds — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 05:30:19 -0800

Sigh. I'm so over the whole tilt-shift lens thing ... yes, yes, yes, very clever, make a real city look like a tiny, little model ...

By: Bugbread

Bugbread — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 06:10:22 -0800

kcds : "Sigh. I'm so over the whole tilt-shift lens thing ... yes, yes, yes, very clever, make a real city look like a tiny, little model ..." Er, which links are you referring to?

By: carsonb

carsonb — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 06:32:42 -0800

jonson, excellent post as usual. thank you! though noted: the shanghai (i) link goes to the edinburgh flickr link.

By: carsonb

carsonb — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 06:35:18 -0800

kcds: the tilt-shift technique may be in effect here on some links, but they're all models. it must work both ways, model -> real life, real life -> model.

By: jamesonandwater

jamesonandwater — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 06:42:37 -0800

These are cool. It might be irrelevant because it's changing so quickly, but does anyone know if there's any of Dublin (Ireland, not Ohio) floating around? A few quick searches haven't dug one up.

By: jonson

jonson — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 07:03:28 -0800

bugbread, I think kcds is being sarcastic, joking that these can't possibly be real models.

By: jonson

jonson — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 07:04:15 -0800

And yes, carsonb, I just noticed that initial shanghai mix-up myself. For those who want to see the shanghai 1 photo, it's linked from the (via) post at the end of the FPP.

By: eddydamascene

eddydamascene — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 07:06:07 -0800

Apparently, the images from New York on the site haven't been updated for at least five years. "The buildings of the World Trade Center have been retained as a memorial, and there are commemorative plaques with descriptive information about them on the ramp nearby."

By: exlotuseater

exlotuseater — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 07:12:35 -0800

jonson: sheesh. Every time I see your username now, I know it's going to be good. How do you find all this stuff? [I picture you à la that guy in Gibson's Pattern Recognition that lives in a cardboard box, jacked into the 'net 24/7, seeing all these connections... not that you live in a carboard box. I guess I didn't have to mention that part.]

By: JBennett

JBennett — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 07:21:13 -0800

If you live near NYC the Queens museum is a great place to go. The scale model is really, really impressive in person. Especially when the lights come down every few minutes for the "night simulation". The art museum and the worlds fair museum are also full of great work/artifacts and if it's nice out, walk the grounds of the deteriorating worlds fair structures (before they're gone!).

By: languagehat

languagehat — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 07:37:50 -0800

I love this stuff. (I recently saw the Zhan Wang: Urban Landscape Beijing exhibit at the Williams College Museum of Art and was amazed at his recreation of Beijing using household utensils.) Thanks for another great post, jonson! Gotta say, that Edinburgh one is kinda tacky. But the Scots have better things to do than apply detail to city models. Pass the Lagavulin, laddie...

By: jonson

jonson — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 07:56:55 -0800

The Shanghai (ii) one seems to be the winner of the bunch. It takes the entire second floor of the building. Visit the Flickr page & view "all sizes" on this shot, just awesome.

By: Mister_A

Mister_A — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 08:12:00 -0800

THat doesn't look like Futurama - where's the Slurm billboard?

By: JBennett

JBennett — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 09:00:37 -0800

Jonson, judging by the scale of the model vs. the people's feet in that shot it's probably the same size as the NYC model in Queens if not a little smaller. The NYC model benefits from the exclusion of any columns. Awesome!

By: quin

quin — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 11:24:32 -0800

A two foot tall Godzilla would have been just right. So basically we just need to get a good sized iguana in there. Someone get on this! I need to see 4th century Rome be taught a giant radioactive lesson. Smug Praetorian bastards.

By: Artifice_Eternity

Artifice_Eternity — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 13:03:16 -0800

Cytherea is right about there being no updates to the NYC model in 5 years, at least if the photo that JBennett linked to is recent. At the center of that pic, about 1/3 up from the bottom, there's a white bridge, and just above it are two large cylindrical structures, with a red and white checkered pattern at their tops. I'm pretty sure those are the gas storage tanks in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, that were demolished in summer 2001.

By: -harlequin-

-harlequin- — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 13:16:18 -0800

(Re: NY, I think it's better that the models be a snapshot of the city, rather than constantly updating the model as the city changes).

By: sergeant sandwich

sergeant sandwich — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 13:49:12 -0800

totally awesome! btw, looks like the first shanghai link actually points to the edinburgh picture.

By: jonson

jonson — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 14:17:04 -0800

sgt, you're right, but if you want to see what it originally was supposed to point to, click here.

By: namret

namret — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 18:10:41 -0800

Of the photos showing the model of San Francisco, the largest one has been flipped. Use a mirror to see it correctly. The smaller image shows the correct orientation of the Bay Bridge with downtown.

By: crunchland

crunchland — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 19:25:20 -0800

the future by design

By: carter

carter — Fri, 22 Sep 2006 07:22:10 -0800

Nice stuff, thanks jonson!

By: kcds

kcds — Fri, 22 Sep 2006 13:07:14 -0800

jonson : bugbread, I think kcds is being sarcastic, joking that these can't possibly be real models. Not only does the Jonson name on an FPP pretty much guarantee it's gonna be a great post, he even manages to decode the apparently otherwise inscrutable kcds sense of humour. Double threat!