New York Cityscape (S)

New York is the most populous city in the United States. It exerts a significant global influence upon commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and entertainment. The history of New York begins around 10,000 BC, when the first Native Americans arrived. By 1100 AD, New York’s main native cultures, the Iroquoian and Algonquian, had developed. European discovery of New York was led by the French in 1524 and the first land claim came in 1609 by the Dutch. The streets of lower Manhattan developed organically as the colony of New Amsterdam. It was renamed New York when the British took it over from the Dutch in 1664. The roads were a mixture of country lanes, short streets and Native American and animal trails without any overarching order until around 1800 when the Common Council of New York began to assert authority. The Commissioners’ Plan of 1811 was the original design for the streets of Manhattan above Houston Street, which put in place the rectangular grid plan of streets and lots that has defined Manhattan to this day. It has been called “the single most important document in New York City’s development,” and the plan has been described as encompassing the “republican predilection for control and balance … [and] distrust of nature.” The Plan is arguably the most famous use of the grid plan or “gridiron” and is considered by many historians to have been far-reaching and visionary.

The building form most closely associated with New York City is the skyscraper, which has shifted many commercial and residential districts from low-rise to high-rise. Surrounded mostly by water, the city has amassed one of the largest and most varied collection of skyscrapers in the world. The art deco Chrysler building is considered by many historians and architects to be one of New York’s finest. The character of New York’s large residential districts is often defined by the elegant brownstone rowhouses, townhouses, and shabby tenements that were built during a period of rapid expansion from 1870 to 1930.

This 3d map of New York, at a scale of 1:5000, is of the southern tip of Manhattan. It is a single resin tile measuring 30x30cm encapsulated in a beautiful oak frame. The model can wall hang or be displayed on a desk or table top.