Visiting the Museum of the City of New York and learning about the housing situation in New York as compared to other places was an eye opening experience. Housing in New York, as many of us may know, is difficult. With all these new methods of saving space and creating apartments for single people instead of single-family, New York City is not only catching up to the current population trend but also considering the future.
My favorite part of the exhibit was looking at the architectural mini models that won contests. I have actually seen small models of buildings before; however, the model as a whole was for a large area of land where a private community was to be built in China. The model was very colorful and realistic looking, but what caught my attention was that it looked “fancy.” Since I do not plan on immigrating to China, dreaming of such a community would not work out for me. So when I saw these models and their unique designs, I was immediately drawn in.
Another part of the exhibit I enjoyed was the apartment floor model. When the guide was showing us all the space saving objects, such as the pull down bed, I felt like a little girl in a doll house. I have seen many space saving gadgets on the internet, but seeing them up close and watching how simple they work is even more amazing. When she went through the whole floor model, I felt convinced that my ideal “when I get a job and live by myself” home was an apartment like that.
When exploring other exhibits, I thought the world fair exhibit was intriguing as well. There were many object displayed from past world fairs, like the huge robot man that I found extremely creepy the longer I looked at it. Another object that caught my eye was the toaster and coffee pot. Being able to compare old inventions of a toaster and coffee pot allowed me to really feel the technological advancement of the present. Since I grew up in a generation where technology was rapidly developing, technology feels “normal” to me. So being able to see up close something from the past was a nice experience. Overall, I really enjoyed the trip to the Museum of the City of New York. There were many fascinating displays, and I think others should look at the World’s Fair exhibit. Also, the museum guide was extremely passionate and made the housing exhibit very intriguing.
