Very Tiny Versions Of Very Large Things

Like a building collector, Erika Nelson travels and collects miniatures. The difference is, she creates the miniature replicas of the roadside vernacular architecture and unusual tourist attractions she visits. Some of the mini reproductions she makes are of buildings and monuments such as L.A.’s Randy’s Donuts shop and a catsup-shaped water tower. Nelson describes her mission as, “I want to make a small version of the World's Largest Collection of the World's Smallest Versions of the World's Smallest Things Traveling Roadside Attraction Museum and open my OWN museum with just that and watch people's heads explode.” Since 2002, she has been writing a blog about her travels and growing collection. Here’s a video about her traveling museum van. Check out Erika’s appearance on Conan O’Brian below.

National Building Museum Exhibition

One stop on this year’s SBCS convention will the National Building Museum to visit “Designing Tomorrow-America's World's Fairs of the 1930s” exhibition, which contains pieces loaned by SBCS members. Six SBCS collectors have eleven pieces in the exhibit. We’ll have a special tour of the exhibition and also get a special architectural tour of the NBM, originally built as the Pension Building in 1887. While not as well know as other buildings in D.C., it is not to be missed for architecture fans. Special features include the Great Hall measuring 316 × 116 feet, the spectacular interior columns and a frieze, sculpted by Caspar Buberl, stretching around the exterior of the building and depicting Civil War soldiers. The Designing Tomorrow exhibit will go on the road to other museums after our visit. According to the NBM’s website, “Between 1933 and 1940 tens of millions of Americans visited world's fairs in cities across the nation. Designing Tomorrow explores the modernist spectacles of architecture and design they witnessed -- visions of a brighter future during the worst economic crisis the United States had known. The fairs popularized modern design for the American public and promoted the idea of science and consumerism as salvation from the Great Depression. A first-of-its-kind exhibition, Designing Tomorrow features nearly 200 never-before-assembled artifacts including building models, architectural remnants, drawings, paintings, prints, furniture, an original RCA TRK-12 television, Elektro the Moto-Man robot, and period film footage. The artifacts are drawn from the featured expositions: Chicago, IL—A Century of Progress International Exposition (1933–34); San Diego, CA—California Pacific International Exposition (1935-36); Dallas, TX—Texas Centennial Exposition (1936); Cleveland, OH—Great Lakes Exposition (1936-37); San Francisco, CA—Golden Gate International Exposition (1939-40); and New York, NY—New York World's Fair (1939-40).” InFocusTech made a replica of the NBM structure a few years ago and a special convention souvenir is planned for this year’s SBCS event. If you have time, you might want to catch another small, but interesting display: Towering Ambition LEGO Exhibit upstairs. Adam Reed Tucker built 15 structures from around the world made entirely from LEGO bricks. Another place to stop inside the NBM is the museum shop – one of the best I’ve visited for architecture enthusiasts. I’ve written before about LEGO architecture here and here.

Holland America’s Skyline Ship Chandelier

The cruise line, Holland America, showcases its Dutch connection to New York throughout it’s Nieuw Amsterdam ship. A focal point on every Holland America Line vessel is the Atrium chandelier. Adorning the ceiling of Nieuw Amsterdam, is a piece by husband and wife Italian artists Gilbert LeBigre and Corinne Roger. Famed for their theatrical stage sets and sculptural works, they created an eye-catching abstract sculpture of the modern New York skyline, made from clear translucent blocks, that hangs upside-down. The LED-equipped chandelier is lit in an ever-varying spectrum of rich colors.

Tallest Building in the World Opens

A spectacular fireworks display celebrated the opening of the newest and tallest skyscraper in the world. The Arab Emirates building, known during its construction as the Burj Dubai, also has a new name - it's now the Burj Khalifa. As real estate prices crash in Dubai, this elevated edifice rises to a record 2,717 feet. The building could be its own self-contained city boasting housing, offices, shopping, nightclubs and mosques. It will have the world’s first Armani hotel, the world’s highest swimming pool (on the 76th floor) and the highest observation deck (124th floor). The faithful can also literally be closer to god in the world's highest mosque on the 158th floor of the Burj Khalifa. The name change is in honor of the president of Abu Dhabi, Sheik Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan, who funded a $10 billion bailout last month to the cash-strapped city. The Burj took 5 years to build and cost $1.5 billion.

TV Show Features Souvenir Buildings

The CBS TV show Cold Case recently wrote a souvenir building collection into their storyline. Carol D. tipped me off to this show’s episode. Carol wrote, “The story is about a girl who became a stewardess. Her father said he began her interest in traveling by bringing her a miniature Eiffel Tower home from France. Dad told her to collect every monument in the world. One of the scenes near the end shows a person walking past a cabinet with his collection of souvenir buildings. You don't see very much, but I thought it was interesting that souvenir buildings came up three or four times in the show.“ Check out the full episode of Season 6 episode 11 of Cold Case below. The souvenir buildings make their appearance during the flashback portion of the show. Enjoy.

Smallest Souvenir Building?

OK, so you thought my recent post about building replicas on the head of a pin were small. Scott D. found information about a souvenir building which is even smaller. Small, as in microscopic. Swinburne University of Technology's Center for Micro-Photonics has constructed a model of the Sydney Opera House that is about half the diameter of a human hair. With dimensions of 64 x 38 x 41 micrometers, which is more than a million times smaller than the real Sydney structure, the model was built from a hybrid material of glass and polymer by firing intense laser light into the matter in a liquid state to create what to the human eye appears as an almost imperceptible dot. It took 14 years to construct Australia’s iconic Sydney Opera House, but it took only about three hours for Australian scientists to fabricate a micrometer-sized model of the building.

Art and Architecture

Oooohhhh, aaahhhhh. Normally reserved for fireworks, the crowd’s reaction to the color and design of images projected onto the front of the Washington National Cathedral were the same…oooohh, aaahhhhh. Swiss artist Gerry Hofstetter made his debut in the U.S. with this project to mix art with architecture. I went to experience the free 3-day night-time show in Washington D.C. this past weekend. It was a slide show projected on an architectural canvas. Hofstetter transforms buildings, monuments and natural formations into works of art. Over the years the artist has illuminated landmarks in the U.K., the Sphinx and the Great Pyramids and icebergs in Antarctica. What a simple yet profound way to give us a different perspective on iconic architecture.

Building a New Stonehenge

We all have a hobby or two. Some of us collect souvenir buildings, while others enjoy spending the day moving multi-ton stones…alone. With surprisingly simple tools, a retired construction worker has challenged himself to unlock the construction secrets of England’s ancient monument, Stonehenge. Utilizing merely leavers, weights, gravity and his ingenuity, Wally Wallington is building a Stonehenge replica on his property in Flint, Michigan.

Wallington wrote: “I have begun to build a replica of Stonehenge with eight 10 ton blocks on end and 2 ton blocks on top. One man, no wheels, no rollers, no ropes, no hoist or power equipment and using only sticks and stones. In the future, either myself, sons, or grandsons will be able to show this and other forms of The Forgotten Technology to the world. I believe that I have learned to use the laws of physics to my advantage.”

A Different Kind of “Building Collector”

Architectural artifact accumulator Larry Giles salvages items from condemned buildings before they're demolished. The St. Louis native and owner of St. Louis Architectural Art Co., Giles has collected unique building materials for over 35 years. His efforts have totaled over 250,000 artifacts, which are now owned by the St. Louis Building Arts Foundation, a not-for-profit foundation Giles established in 2002. Plans for a National Architectural Arts Center, to be built near the St. Louis Gateway Arch, are under way. It's sad to loose historic buildings, but refreshing to see someone so dedicated to saving a portion of our architectural history. Originally broadcast on TV in 2004, the video below shows some of the unique collection.

AT&T Commercials

New Sanfrakota, Chilondoscow or even Philawareapragueacago could be the names of the cities we souvenir building collectors assemble. While some collectors display all buildings from a particular city together on one shelf, I group my collection randomly with whatever looks good. Some recent AT&T commercials intend to illustrate the seamless world of their company's mobile services. In one TV spot, three locations in which someone might live, work and play are China, London, and Moscow. "AT&T works in more places like Chilondoscow," which is a fun amalgamation of the names of those locations. Other ‘city names’ include New Sanfrakota (New York, San Francisco, South Dakota) and Newbosmento (New York, Boston, Sacramento). It’s a fun naming concept and one which could be adopted by souvenir building collectors. I also like how the related print advertisements use buildings and monuments on top of a globe. Have you noticed other commercials utilizing miniature architecture?

Toronto 3-D Map

Inside the lobby of the Toronto City Hall, visitors can find this large 3-D map of city. It looks like it was made some time ago using plastic or acrylic. Located on the west side of rotunda near the front door, the scale model encompasses the area bordered by Dufferin Street to the west, Bloor to the north, the Don River valley and west edge of Riverdale to the east and Lake Ontario to the south. Do you know of other 3-D maps? Let me know in the ‘comments’ link below.

Statue of Liberty...in Paris

We all know the Statue of Liberty. "Liberty Enlightening the World" was a gift of friendship from the people of France to the people of the United States to commemorate the 100th anniversary of American independence. In fact, there are three Lady Liberty statues. The most famous stands at the entrance of New York harbor . . . a 151-foot statue of a woman holding a book and a torch on-high. Another, smaller statue casts her gaze from Swan Ally Island in the Seine River near the Grenelle Bridge in Paris. A third SOL stands among the flower gardens and fountains of Paris’ Luxembourg Gardens, which is home to the French Senate. This one is the original ‘life size’ cast created by architect and sculptor Frédéric Auguste Batholdi. She’s about 15 feet high on her pedestal and purveys the garden’s flowers and trees.

Building Trophies

I was aware that the trophy for the Masters Tournament was a replica of the clubhouse of the Augusta National Golf Course in Augusta, Georgia. However, do you know how many other sports trophies are also building replicas? The more research I did, the more trophies I found. AT&T National PGA golf tournament at the Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland gives the winner a large silver replica of the U.S. Capital. The Scottish Open golf tournament’s trophy is a model of Rhosdubh House, a Georgian mansion which is used as the clubhouse. The winner of the Emaar-MGF Indian Masters at the Delhi Golf Club receives a huge wooden arch as a trophy. Makes me want to take up golf just to get my hands on one of these beauties. Do you know of any other building-shaped trophies?

SNL Financial Snow Globe

I recently found this snow globe with an unusual mixture of buildings represented inside: The Empire State Building, The Taj Mahal, Jefferson’s Monticello, London’s Parliament Building and the U.S. Capital Building. It was made for SNL Financial, which has offices in Ahmedabad, Charlottesville, Islamabad, London, New York and Washington D.C., to “Celebrate 20 years: 1987-2007.” I don’t have many snow globes in my collection, but this one just seemed unusual enough to add it. Do you collect snow globes or have any in your souvenir building collection?

Movie Staring Souvenir Buildings: The Lavender Hill Mob

The plot of the 1952 movie, “The Lavender Hill Mob,” centers around Eiffel Tower souvenir buildings. It’s a comedy about a meek clerk who plans a gold heist from the bank where he works. Mr. Holland, the bank clerk, decides the safest way to smuggle the gold out of the country would be in the form of Eiffel Tower paperweights. The grand scheme, naturally, goes horribly wrong. 1952-style hilarity ensues especially with a chase down the stairs of the Eiffle Tower. Staring a young Alec Guinness, who most people know today from his Star Wars role as Obi-Wan Kenobi, the movie also contains the brief silver-screen debut of Audrey Hepburn. The film won an Oscar for Best Screenplay. Check out the full move, below. If you want to just view the scene with the first gold Eiffel tower miniatures, scroll forward to 45:00 minutes. Have you seen other movies which star or contain souvenir buildings? Let us know using the ‘comment’ link below.

The Lavender Hill Mob by crazedigitalmovies

Statue of Liberty Creators

The creators of the Statue of Liberty still stand on Liberty Island. During a trip to the island, I noticed a series of sculptures of the men holding metal replicas of their most famous works. They are commemorated in bronze statues created by Sculptor Phillip Ratner. Gustave Eiffel designed the iron skeleton for Ms. Liberty. Eiffel was a master of elegantly constructed wrought-iron lattices, which also formed the basis of his bridges and his name-sake, the Eiffel Tower. Frederic Auguste Bartholdi was a French sculptor who designed the statue and the face of the Liberty is said to be that of his mother. Richard Morris Hunt designed the pedestal on which Lady Liberty stands.

Cigar Humidor Buildings

In a Georgetown cigar shop, my eyes zeroed in on a great-looking and large Jefferson Memorial. I was surprised to see a building replica in a tobacco store, but it all became clear when I discovered it was a cigar humidor. Did some research and found they are made by Altadis U.S.A. Inc. as part of an American Heritage humidor series which includes the U.S. Capital, Jefferson Memorial, Lincoln Memorial and The White House. The hand-made, one-of-a-kind humidors are scale models of classic American landmarks. The Capital Building stands almost two feet tall, has a removable dome and holds between 250-350 cigars. The company does not sell directly, only to retail stores. So if you smoke, are thinking about starting or just want a large replica to dwarf your smaller souvenir buildings, they may be at a cigar store near you.

Real / Replica: Greater Buffalo Savings Bank

This pewter bank replica of the Greater Buffalo Savings Bank was made in 2002. They were given away to new account customers. While in Buffalo, NY, I tracked down the real GBSB building. While doing research, I discovered some fascinating history about the building. Turns out, it was originally built as a Pierce-Arrow Motor Car Co. showroom for the American automobile manufacturer based in Buffalo, N.Y. Designed by H.E. Plumer and opened in 1933, the Art Deco building was planned to be the prototype for Pierce-Arrow dealerships across the country. Timing was bad and the automobile company was hit hard by the Depression. In 1999, the Greater Buffalo Savings Bank was formed and bought the building to use as their headquarters. In 2002, the bank restored the building and used it as the design prototype for the bank's three other branches. The bank company has recently been acquired by First Niagara Bank.

Real / Replica: Albany Bank Bookend

I lived for a while in Upstate NY and found these building-shaped bookends with the words, “Central Bank of Albany.” I kept my eyes open while in Albany and one day discovered what I believe is the actual bank building along Central Ave. Both the real building and replica have the same number and placement of palladian windows, door placement and decorative keystone in front. It became a Fleet Bank branch and then, within the last 10 years, WAMC, the Northeast Public Radio Station, converted the classic building at Central and Quail into the WAMC Performing Arts Studio. Some souvenir building replica locations are very well known and others can be a mystery. It’s great to track down the real building which was made into a replica. Do you have any unusual replicas and found the real structure? Send the info and photos my way and I’ll share it with our Building Collector viewers.

Wright Brothers Monument

I recently found this plaster version of the Wright Brothers Monument in a junk shop. It’s a newer replica which stands about 6 inches tall and has nice detailing. There are also older versions of this souvenir monument made of metal and plaster out there. The actual granite monument is 60-feet tall and located in Kill Devil Hills, N.C. It commemorates the first successful flight by Wilbur and Orville Wright who came to the hill because of the area's steady winds. Inscribed in capital letters along the base of the memorial tower is the phrase, "In commemoration of the conquest of the air by the brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright conceived by genius achieved by dauntless resolution and unconquerable faith." Construction of the tower, designed by Architects Rodgers & Poor, began in October 1931 and completed a year later. To build the structure, 1,200 tons of granite, more than 2,000 tons of gravel, over 800 tons of sand and 400 tons of cement were used. My plaster version required a bit less material to create.