If you’ve ever been to the Queens Museum then you have more than likely seen the massive 70 x 15 feet, 1:1200 scale model of NYC known as “The Panorama of the City of New York”.
The piece was originally commissioned for the 1964 Worlds Fair by controversial “urban planner” and fair president, Robert Moses. it was made by over 100 people under the guidance Raymond Lester & Associates, celebrated architectural model makers of the time, and took three years to build.
“The Panorama” is once again taking center stage in the arts world thanks to acclaimed LA-based photographer Spencer Lowell. The photographic series “New York, New York, New York” were the signature images for this year’s Frieze New York arts festival.
As you’ll see the photos cover some iconic areas of our city.
Central Park from north of 116th street in Harlem to midtown Manhattan.
The bridges (some 100 in total) are all made from etched brass.
There are almost 900,000 buildings in the full miniature.
Above: Midtown Manhattan to the Upper East Side, Roosevelt Island and further from over the Hudson.
The panorama stands at a scale of one inch to 100 feet of the real NYC.
The panorama is made up of 256 ten-by-four-foot panels and all of the buildings were originally painted by hand.
Sections of the model are regularly updated, although no longer hand-carved. Modern buildings are made of laser-etched plastics or plexiglass.
The model in its entirety covers an astounding 9335 square feet.
The Empire State building stands a minuscule 15 inches tall and the Statue of Liberty less than two.