Joe Macken (the truck driver who built the model) and Ferdinand Cheval (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_Cheval) were never alive at the same time. But if they had ever met, they would have found each other to be kindred spirits.

Awe-inspring. But one thing I don't get: he says he wants every building to be included, but the buildings in NYC are anything but permanent. Did he pick a particular timestamp for everything, or is it a mosaic of different epochs? Keeping the model up to date would be even more insane.

i absolutely love the sentiment from this closing sentence:

> “One of the reasons Joe is so insistent that every single building is here is because he would never want someone to come and see it and not be able to find where they live and see their story,” Sherman tells Artnet.

Previous related discussion:

Trucker built a scale model of NYC over 21 years https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45261877 - 18 comments, 6 months ago

If you are interested in scale models of New York, there's a 1:1 scale model in Minecraft: https://youtu.be/ZouSJWXFBPk

There is a miniature of Prague from around 1830 by Antonín Langweil. He dedicated his all free time to finish it in a hope of making money for his daughters. Langweil never found a benefactor for his work and he died poor. Pretty tragic story.

https://www.muzeumprahy.cz/en/visit-langweils-model-of-pragu...

This is kind of timely for me because very recently I had heard of the film "Synecdoche, New York", but in this film, the scale model is more life-size.

Looking at the level of detail, and the thoroughness, I wouldn't have expected it to even be possible to complete it in 20 years. How much time does this guy spend driving truck? Amazing accomplishment and display of dedication and creativity.

Brilliant. Stay weird, humans.

A swiss architect did the same in the mid 19th century with Geneva, specifically to preserve an image of the city right before the entirety of the city walls were to be razed

pics: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Relief_Magnin

Any way to know how many buildings were demolished and a newer one built in its place over that 20 year period? Wonder what he used for a reference. Is the model representative of a single moment in time, or is there some clock drift?

Also for comparison: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panorama_of_the_City_of_New_Yo...

Wow. Imagine how much time would be saved with the new immersive view and 3D building modeling that wasn't available when he started in 2004.

Of course, saving time was clearly not the point of the project. It's awesome.

Synecdoche, New York. We all have our magna opera, but those types I really admire. A great form of therapy as well.

We need people like this around

How long before we can build tiny controlled cars and little tiny "pole people" that wander around?

Micro-machines seem to be taking their time.

How amazing. Would love to see that in person.

Looks like you can buy tickets: https://35948.blackbaudhosting.com/35948/page.aspx?pid=196&t...

I should check it out, it would be fun to see my house recreated as a model.

I love projects like this; no delusions of trying to change the world, just doing it because the creator thinks it would be cool to do.

This is what humans should be doing with their lives, and not spending 8 hours/day staring at screens. I'm so serious.

Why is it relevant what he does for a living? It's his passion and hobby that is interesting.

“A sculptor drove a truck to fund his art.”

> “We were all standing around squealing, ‘Look, there’s our museum!’ ‘There’s the Met; there’s the Guggenheim,’” Sherman recalls. “It’s this great act of recognition, and then it’s also witnessing [Macken’s] creativity, how he made this complex architecture out of very humble materials.”

Blue collar, dedicated, skillful effort over decades immediately co-opted by nonsense-spewer.