Customizable 3D Printed Miniature Cityscape Tiles That Fit Together to Complete the Manhattan Skyline

Microscape, a collaborative project between New York-based architectural design firms TO+WN Design and AJSNY, are clever customizable 3D printed tiles that fit together like puzzle pieces to complete a topographically-correct tiny cityscape of New York City. The company is planning to create tiles for other cities around the world should they meet their funding goals through Kickstarter.

Microscape models are detailed, 1:5000 scale replicas of cities. They're 3D-printed from our own accurate, up-to-date aerial scan data, meaning that they can evolve along with the built environment. Because we manually process all of that data to make it printable, they can also include buildings still under construction or still in planning. "They're made out of a durable white thermoplastic derived from corn starch that's non-toxic, completely safe to handle* (the FDA says you can even eat off them, though we're not sure why you'd want to") and biodegradable.

images via Microscape

Thanks Scott Devaney!