On this trip, I went to visit the Panorama of NYC inside the Queens Museum of Art. This museum is located inside of Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, and is right next to the popular Unisphere structure. The panorama of NYC is a miniature reproduction of all the 5 boroughs, which includes The Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, and Staten Island. However, calling it “miniature” is an understatement because of how large the panorama actually is. When you walk into the room, you are standing on top of a cat walk that gives you a view of the panorama from above. The unexpectedly large size of the room and panorama display gives viewers a “wow moment”, especially since we are viewing it from a bird’s eye view, giving us a new view experience of our city. I like the design of the room and I think the placement of lights and structures were carefully designed for the best viewing experience. The room is about the size of 2 large gymnasiums and the elevated catwalk surrounding the room lets viewer get a clear picture of all the 5 boroughs in the center of the room. Another design I felt was unnoticed and I appreciated was the lighting in the room. While most the lighting in the room is focused on the panorama in the center of the room, I noticed the catwalk is dark and has minimal lighting. I like this for the fact that it lets viewers know what to focus on and that the panorama is the star of the exhibit. Probably the most coolest feature of this exhibit is when the panorama goes into night time mode. The room goes almost completely dark, and there are lights coming from the little buildings in the panorama, which almost resembles how the city looks like at night when you look out from an airplane window.
The panorama has changed the way I see the size of the city. When I think of my own city, I just think of 5 mere boroughs. But after seeing the panorama, I realized how big those 5 mere boroughs actually are. Each borough is like it’s own city with their own unique buildings and identity. Manhattan is the heart of the city where the atmosphere is fast paced and where the major buildings are. The Bronx and Brooklyn are places where there is deep history and iconic culture. Then there is Queens and Staten Island where the atmosphere is more relaxed and the place is more residential. New York City can be described as “quality over quantity”. It makes sense why in only 5 relatively small boroughs, the total population reaches a little over 8.5 million people. In such a diverse city, the place is home to people from all places of the world, making any borough suitable for anyone. I have lived in Queens and commute to different boroughs almost my whole life, but there are still places in NYC that I am unfamiliar with or never been to. I was able to identity some notable places I never been to was the Far Rockaway islands, and a lot of the Bronx. This goes to show that NYC doesn’t have to be large in size to have abundance. An interesting thing that I noticed when looking at Manhattan was the street structures and patterns. The grid pattern stayed the same since the city was first developed in the late 1800’s. It reminds of the “Timescapes” short film I saw and how far NYC has come since the beginning of their foundation. Manhattan is the center of NYC with the major buildings, and it makes me wonder will other boroughs start to look like Manhattan in the future. Queens and Brooklyn already have a urban city environment in parts of Long Island City and Williamsburg. My thought is will other boroughs begin major urban city development? How will this affect lower income residents who are already struggling?
The panorama overall was well made and gave viewers a feel of what the whole New York City looks like. The details on the buildings were well made, where I can recognize many major structures, such as Madison Square Garden, the High-bridge, Central park, and more. One thing I would say about the Queens Museum of Art is that because it is in a somewhat secluded location in Queens, it doesn’t attract as much visitors as other museums like the MET or MoMa. This is also not a bad thing though, because it gives visitors a more relaxed experience where the environment is less crowded, quiet, and it is a place where people like myself would prefer. A suggestion that I have for the panorama is that there could be interactive features that allows viewers to see it more up close, or control certain features within the panorama. It gives the exhibit even more to look forward to and might even draw in more visitors to a secluded Queens location.
