Cities are living, breathing organisms that are constantly in motion, constantly growing, and ever-changing. And we never really notice how much they change until we see them from a different perspective. Either from a prolonged absence or, perhaps, from a perspective far larger than we’re generally used to viewing our city from.
“The really interesting thing about models like this is they really illustrate the proximity of areas like Old Oak Common. It changes your mental map of the city and it allows you to understand the way the city is shaped, ” said NLA chairman Peter Murray. ‘While London’s public realm has clearly come a long way in 10 years, there is still a lot to be done.”
The huge city model is over 40 feet long and represents a total of 53 square miles of greater London. It extends from King’s Cross station up in the north of the city down to Peckham in the south, from the Royal Docks in the east over to Old Oak Common in the west. It also incorporates many of the city’s major transportation routes and will show how new expansions of the rail system will impact the city.
The installation was planned out, designed, and painstakingly recreated over a period of five months. Pipers will be updating the piece twice each year to make sure that the evolving city model is constantly up to date. The model is currently open to the public, with the complete interactive portions of the model being launched on May 20th.
Would you like to see a large scale model of your city or town? How quickly do you think your city is growing in comparison to London? Let us know what you think over on the Interactive 3D Printed Model of London forum thread over on 3DPB.com.