We had the distinct pleasure to interview award winning designer about their original and creative design work. is an award-winning creative designer, that makes our world a better place with their original works.
("") answered Design Interview ("DI") questions about their award-winning work . Interview questions prepared by Frank Scott.
: Having studied, lived and practiced architecture in New York City for over a decade, New York City has become an important part of our identities. A primary goal for the project was to somehow commemorate how much the city has come to mean for us.
: The same way New York has come to hold certain importance for us, the assumption was that it held a certain level of significance for many others that have either lived or visited what we believe is one of the greatest cities on the planet. Whether it be a single 6-inch by 6-inch Microscape panel or a collection of up to 250 of them, we wanted anyone to be able to own a piece of the city.
: We've begun Microscape by capturing the island of Manhattan and offering them in highly-precise 1:5000 scale models, but have begun plans to expand to other cities as well. We've received dozens of suggestions to create Microscape models of cities around the world.
: The concept of the project came fairly quickly after a series of sketches and small-scale tests. We spent nearly two years refining the process to make sure that models were at the highest standard before introducing it to the public.
: As designers and architects, the majority of our work is commissioned by a specific client. With Microscape, we developed the product without a client with the hope that others would be able to see the value of what we designed.
: Currently, Microscape is designed, produced, packaged and shipped from our studio in New York. We're working with partners and some of the museums in the city to make them available in their shops.
: Although there's been a major shift in the majority of our design work from analog to digital production; we still hold a deep appreciation for real physical models that can be touched. Microscape ambitiously attempts to capture some of the beauty of the city and render it in precise 3d printed models.
: Microscape is designed for any individuals where New York holds some special meaning, whether it's one panel or several. It's also designed for real estate offices, architects and developers that may find it to be a useful tool or presentation method.
: Microscape is a collaboration between William Ngo, founding partner at TO+WN DESIGN and Alan Silverman, founder of AJSNY.
: The project is made possible by two technologies that have been around for some time, but have more recently been gaining in popularity on a consumer level. We generate digital models using aerial photography as a basis and use 3d printing to produce the physical models.
: We spent over a year testing different printers and dozens of types of plastics to ensure that we achieved the highest quality and detail from the models.
