Physical Models of Cities: USA

These are some of the physical models of the cities in USA:

Source: Bill Warner

Boston Redevelopment Authority, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

For decades, Boston has maintained a wood model of the city.

When new developments are proposed, the new buildings must be submitted in wood models that can be placed in the model room.

The Boston Redevelopment Authority also maintains an extensive electronic 3D model of the city, and performs many of its city planning tasks using 3D Studio Max. -- Bill Warner

Source: queensmuseum.org

The Panorama of the City of New York, Queens Museum of Art, New York City, New York, USA

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.  -- official web site

Source: wired.com

Midtown Manhattan, New York Skyscraper Museum, New York City, New York, USA

Michael Chesko is no architect. He's not a structural engineer or an urban planner either. But he just spent more than 2,000 hours constructing this highly detailed, nearly perfect scale model of midtown Manhattan. Chesko cut, sanded, and glued the mini metropolis—now on exhibit at the New York Skyscraper Museum—using only an X-Acto knife, a nail file, and a Dremel (and lots of balsa wood). But the 50-year-old software engineer was having fun; he's been building little cities since he was a kid. -- Wired

Source: timothycgoodwin @ Flickr

Downtown Albany, New York State Museum, Albany, New York, USA

Source: caf.architecture.org

Chicago Architecture Foundation, Chicago, Illinois, USA

The Chicago model is the only accurate and up-to-date three-dimensional portrait of Chicago's downtown. This 320-square-foot work in progress enables you to see Chicago as you've never seen it before.

The Chicago Architecture Foundation decided to create a three-dimensional digital model of Chicago, from which rapid prototyping machines fabricate a physical model.

The model lighting simulates the path of the sun on June 21th, the longest day of the year. It changes from sunrise to sunset every fifteen minutes.-- Chicago Model City

Read about Hypercrafting And The Future Of Printing Building via The Pop-Up City

Read about The City of Chicago Gets 3D Printed via ArchDaily

Source: Te-Ming Chang

Center City Develipment Corporation, San Diego, California, USA

CCDC is the public, non-profit corporation created by the City of San Diego to staff and implement Downtown redevelopment projects and programs. Formed in 1975, the corporation serves on behalf of the San Diego Redevelopment Agency as the catalyst for public-private partnerships to facilitate redevelopment projects adopted pursuant to redevelopment law.

The Downtown Information Center features a 200-square-foot model, giving visitors a “birds-eye” view of CCDC’s 1,450 acre redevelopment area. -- CCDC

Source: mikerussell wikimedia.org

The downtown Detroit model in the RenCen lobby, Detroit, Michigan, USA

Source: wired.com

The Bay Model, Sausalito, California, USA 

In 1957 the US Army Corps of Engineers created the Bay Model, a replica of the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta meant to simulate the impact of public works projects and disasters—natural and man-made—on currents and tides. Considered one of the most practical applications of the craft, it's made of 286 one-ton slabs of concrete, representations of all six bridges, and a computer-controlled hydraulic system to manipulate the waterworks. Though retired from active duty in 2000, the model is still on display in Sausalito.  -- Wired