Spencer Lowell Creates Hyperrealistic Photos of the Queens Museum’s Famous Panorama

The most prized piece in the Queens Museum is undoubtedly the Panorama, a scale model of the entire city conceived by Robert Moses for the 1964 World’s Fair. Now, fifty years later, it can be enjoyed from an entirely new perspective, thanks to a recent collaboration between LA-based artist Spencer Lowell and the Frieze Art Fair. The resulting collection of hyperrealistic images zoom in on some of the most impressive sections of the model and give an aerial view of the mini metropolis that showcases the city’s urban density in a new way.

The 9,335-square-foot model took a team of more than 100 people over three years to complete under the guidance of the renowned model makers Raymond Lester & Associates. It’s built to a scale of 1:1200, where one inch equals 100 feet, and “each of the city’s 895,000 buildings constructed prior to 1992 and every street, park and some 100 bridges are represented.” It was constructed using a variety of materials, including wood, plastic and hand painted paper, and the 100+ bridges are made from etched brass.

The series of photos created for the Frieze collection is entitled new york, new york, new york” and is part of the fair’s signature images for 2016.

The limited edition prints are available for purchase at the at the Queens Museum booth at Frieze New York.

[Via designboom]

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All images via Spencer Lowell