Architecture and the City

Queens Museum of Art “Panorama of New York City” Exhibition

Field Trip Review Question: How did your visit to the Queens Museum of Art and the model of New York City alter your perceptions of New York City? What did your visit to the model show you or teach you concerning the city of New York and/or its architecture, geography, or overall appearance and design?

From the long 7 train ride into Queens, passing by Citi Field and walking through the old World’s Fair grounds, I got an immersive sense of perspective. The whole thing prepped me for that wonderful model of a panorama. How splendid and delightful and fun!

Living in New York, one is accustomed to going about their daily routine and itinerary from A to B, most often bypassing places and routes that deter from the shortest, most efficient way possible. I realized that there are huge chunks in the outer boroughs I have yet to see. And neighborhoods that I thought I knew well in Manhattan and Brooklyn look very different from what I pictured them to look like in comparison to the blocks around them. And walking around the ramp, I got a great sense of how all of the boroughs connect together into this massive amalgamation of a metropolis/cosmopolis. Amazing.

And looking at Manhattan’s grid system in this way was utterly delicious. Wonderful. Everything is so remarkable flat, planned-out, and orderly. It’s sublime but also sort of dizzying in its massive, repeated orderliness.

The Panorama is the jewel in the crown of the collection of the Queens Museum of Art. Built by Robert Moses for the 1964 World’s Fair, in part as a celebration of the City’s municipal infrastructure, this 9,335 square foot architectural model includes every single building constructed before 1992 in all five boroughs; that is a total of 895,000 individual structures.

The Panorama was built by a team of 100 people working for the great architectural model makers Raymond Lester Associates in the three years before the opening of the 1964 World’s Fair. In planning the model, Lester Associates referred to aerial photographs, insurance maps, and a range of other City material; the Panorama had to be accurate, indeed the initial contract demanded less than one percent margin of error between reality and the model. The Panorama was one of the most successful attractions at the ‘64 Fair with a daily average of 1,400 people taking advantage of its 9 minute simulated helicopter ride around the City.

After the Fair the Panorama remained open to the public, its originally planned use as an urban planning tool seemingly forgotten. Until 1970 all of the changes in the City were accurately recreated in the model by Lester’s team. After 1970 very few changes were made until 1992, when again Lester Associates changed over 60,000 structures to bring it up-to-date.

In 2006 an up-grade of the lighting system – the first change to the model since 1992 – allowed for the Panorama to be displayed in different light conditions; highlight different buildings or areas of the City; and even recreate the sounds of the city. And, in the Spring of 2009 the Museum launched its Adopt-A-Building program with the installation of the Panorama’s newest addition, Citi Field, to continue for the ongoing care and maintenance of this beloved treasure.