For people who haven’t visited, the Queens Museum of Art houses one of the most fantastic treasures of New York City… at least for the map obsessed. Their “crowning jewel” is the Panorama of the City of New York, a massive (no, behemoth!) model of the city built for the 1964 World’s Fair that covers a staggering 9,335 square feet (867 sq meters). The model includes every single building constructed before 1992 in all five boroughs, encompassing 895,000 individual structures. Now this historic map is being used to highlight the cities landmark historic districts and encourage preservation in a city known for its vibrant history. [Read more...]
Photos of New York City with the Power Out
When hurricane sandy hit the city of New York, it took out the power in the bustling metropolis and all the lights went out. That’s when photographer Christophe Jacrot hit the streets to capture some remarkable images of the “city that never sleeps.” If there was any time this metropolis had a chance to rest, it may have been for a very short time after the hurricane hit. [Read more...]
A Delightful, Hand-Drawn Map of New York City
Following 3-months of research and hard work, British illustrator Jenni Sparks has created a fantastic hand-drawn map featuring the lovely city of New York. The piece repeats the talents we saw in her earlier effort creating a map of London, with this version perhaps even surpassing that fine work. Bold lines trace her 3D renditions of the city’s famous architecture, from the Flat Iron building to the Empire State Building; and locations like Union Square to Central Park. [Read more...]
Heavenly Panoramas: The Church Ceilings of New York
Whether part of the religious faithful or not, churches and their lofty edifices inspire people around the world with their beautifully detailed ceilings. Their stunning array of geometric details draw observing eyes skyward towards the heavens, bringing a sense of awe and quiet contemplation to many who crane their necks for a full view of the splendor above. New York based photographer Richard Silver has created a series of photographs which captures these places better than anyone we’ve seen before: vertically oriented panoramas of New York church ceilings that create that same neck craning experience. [Read more...]
Illustrations Travel Back to New York’s Gilded Age
The so called Gilded Age in American history, was one of enormous industrial, urban and agricultural growth… one which saw a previously sleepy nation step forth as a major player on the world stage. The name for the era, coined by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner in their book The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today (1873), made reference to the process of coating cheap metal in a thin layer of gold… effectively making something cheap look more desirable. The term was a humorous jab at an era where many people complained of wildly ostentatious displays of wealth, crass manners, political corruption, and often shoddy ethics. But, for all its shortcomings it was an extremely exciting time, and artist Eric Rosner knows it. [Read more...]
New York Mosaics from Discarded MetroCards
It’s the perfect example of the time worn phrase: “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” Ever since artist Nina Boesch stumbled upon the idea in 2001, she has been creating these Big Apple themed mosaics out of discarded plastic MetroCards. As an exchange student living in New Jersey, she found herself wanting to make an inexpensive gift for her host family, but the only thing she had available was her used MetroCards. [Read more...]
Day to Night: One Image Captures a Day in New York
What would it be like to see into the past and future at the same time… at least for one day? If we could see into the day and night with one glance what would it reveal? These incredible captures of New York city answer those questions, allowing us to look into the 4th dimension and giving us an eye into nearly an entire day from one angle. The metropolitan city, its parks, architecture and street life are displayed in one frame, fading from one side to the other. [Read more...]
Quadruplets: Improv Everywhere Strikes Again
From Michael Keaton meeting Michael Keaton, meeting Michael Keaton in the film Multiplicity, to our recent post on the surreal photography of Kevin Corrado, we’re getting used to seeing people repeated in film. It’s often as simple as cut and paste, so when New Yorkers were recently confronted with the “effect” right before their eyes, what looked like something out of a movie became a confusing, mind bending reality.
Improv Everywhere, legends of the flash mob and a staple surprise attraction of New York City, recently outdid themselves by filling a small city park with eight sets of identical quadruplets. The sets where stylishly dressed alike and sent out to interact with unsuspecting passerby, giving witnesses plenty of reason for some unbelieving double-takes. [Read more...]
Tracking Energy Consumption For Each Building in NYC
Just how much does energy does that building across the way use? Unless a buildings lights are on all night, every night, it’s probably hard to see just how much it consumes. For the lucky residents of the Big Apple, however, a new and fascinating map has appeared on the web to help solve the mystery. From the Flat Iron building to individual buildings in Crown Heights, the map takes an astoundingly detailed look at each and every block in the five boroughs, giving it an energy consumption estimate. Not surprisingly, the gleaming Manhattan skyline easily tops the list as the biggest energy hog. [Read more...]
Every Morsel of Food Documented for Two Years
Lauren Manning documented her life for two years, collected all the data of every piece of food that touched her lips. As a designer you could represent this data in so many different ways; Manning choose to show the data in 40 different infographs. Here we have choosen 11 of our favorites from her series. She says: “Using a data set created from two years of meticulous life documenting, I visualized one point of data – food consumed – over forty ways. Exploring various methods, techniques, styles, degrees of complexity, degrees of additional context and many other elements, a true “apples to apples” comparison has emerged.” Tasty. [Read more...]













