An expert jury selects the finalists, before a public vote determines the winner. The winning museum receives €100,000 to realise its proposed project. Voting runs from 5 to 27 November, with the winner due to be announced on 2 December.

Located in the IJmeer lake, Pampus forms part of the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Dutch Water Defence Lines. Its former garrison had to survive for long periods without help from the mainland, making self-sufficiency essential to the fort’s original purpose.

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Публикация от Forteiland Pampus (@forteiland.pampus)

That challenge has taken on a new meaning. Pampus now operates without fossil fuels, generates its own renewable energy and purifies water from the surrounding lake for use on the island. According to its website, official approval to serve the treated water as drinking water is still pending.

“This combination of heritage and practical solutions for the future makes Pampus a rather special place,” said spokesperson Anouschka Zanolla. “Our selection is a wonderful recognition of everything our team has been working towards.”

The island also grows some of the vegetables and herbs used in its kitchen, while providing space for wildlife. Together, these activities demonstrate how the careful use of natural resources can become part of everyday island life.

“The next step is to help visitors experience more of this ingenuity for themselves,” Zanolla said. For visitors, she added, the “adventure” begins on the boat journey to the island.

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Exploring self-sufficiency

Winning the prize would allow Pampus to create interactive installations around the island, exploring energy, water, food and materials. The aim is to help visitors understand the practical choices involved in becoming more self-sufficient.

“How can you harness the wind’s energy? Which tiny creatures help a vegetable garden thrive? And how can you preserve summer’s harvest to enjoy in winter?” Zanolla asked.

“Through hands-on activities, tasting and experimenting, visitors would discover how inventive and enjoyable a more self-sufficient way of living can be.

“The island’s history provides the starting point, showing how ideas from the past can inspire practical solutions for the future.”

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Seeing home differently

Pampus hopes visitors will leave with more than happy memories of an unusual island. Its ambition is to encourage them to consider how the ideas they encounter could apply to their own lives.

“The ambition is to spark fresh curiosity about the water from their taps, the electricity in their sockets and the food on their plates. Perhaps they will even think: ‘I could try that at home.’

“The message is an optimistic one: a more sustainable future offers opportunities for creativity, discovery and enjoyment.”

“If so much is possible on one small island, imagine what could happen beyond its shores,” Zanolla told Travel Tomorrow.

More information about the nomination and public vote is available on the Pampus website.

L’article Former Dutch sea fort shortlisted for €100,000 green museum award est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

Set in parkland along the shores of Zishan Lake, in Hubei Province, the new cultural complex consists of four public buildings designed to complement the Ziyouji boutique lodgings scattered along the opposite shore.

Covering approximately 3,920 square metres, the four buildings are organised around a meadow, following the natural contours of the terrain rather than imposing themselves on the landscape.

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The concept draws inspiration from traditional Chinese landscape handscrolls, where perspective shifts as the viewer moves through the scene. Instead of a single centre or predetermined route, visitors are encouraged to wander freely between buildings.

“There are no forced axes or rigid zoning between individual buildings; instead, they are connected organically through gentle slopes, undulating lawns, and landscaped pathways, blending seamlessly into the existing meadow,” BUZZ explained. 

The largest of the four buildings is the approximately 3,000-square-metre Zi Museum, a pale concrete structure built around a central courtyard.

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Accessible from three different points at varying elevations, the museum was conceived as an “open labyrinth” by BUZZ. Galleries, public passages, relaxation areas and hospitality spaces intertwine in a seemingly random fashion, giving visitors the sensation of wandering in a Chinese garden full of surprises.

The ground level houses flexible exhibition spaces and a restaurant opening onto a garden, while a lower-level entrance provides access from the main road.

From the lakeside viewpoint, visitors can enter the museum’s central courtyard before making their way up to the rooftop. There, sweeping concrete walls, curved ramps and broad staircases reminiscent of New York’s Grand Central Terminal transform the roof into a spectacular extension of the surrounding landscape, overlooking the lake and parkland.

Visitors preferring to admire the scenery rather than the exhibitions can bypass the galleries entirely and access the rooftop directly from the park.

Zi Museum Cluster by Büro Ziyu Zhuang in Xianning, China https://t.co/7S9isofFM7

— ParametricArchitecture (@parametricarch) November 2, 2026

This configuration is meant to allow “serious academic exhibition and relaxed social gatherings” to co-exist in the same building, says BUZZ.

Adjacent to the museum stands the second structure, a “meditation tower”, whose metal-mesh exterior encloses a staircase winding around a hollow centre.

The stairs lead upwards to a platform offering panoramic views of the surroundings, which can also accommodate gatherings and small exhibitions, and downwards to a sunken courtyard.

The third building could almost be dubbed the “camouflage” building. Embedded into the hillside, with a grass-covered rooftop, it is barely distinguishable from its surroundings when viewed from above. Built from rammed earth, it serves as a workshop.

The fourth building is a bookshop, with an unusual overhanging roof sheltering its entrance facing the main street. Inside, the floor steps down towards the lake, while a glass façade opens onto the parkland and water beyond.

The project invites visitors to make their own discoveries in a landscape where architecture, nature and art cohabit and intertwine.

L’article China’s new Zi Museum blends art, architecture and nature in a lakeside meadow est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

Compiled by the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA), together with research partner Entertainment + Culture Advisors (ECA) and the Park Database (TPDB), the ranking is based on visitor numbers recorded in 2025.

China dominated the list, with 12 entries, five of which are in its capital, Beijing. It also claims all three spots on the winners’ podium.

The remaining eight spots are shared between France, the United Kingdom and South Korea, with two entries each, while the United States and Vatican City have one each.

The number one spot goes to Beijing’s Palace Museum, better known as the Forbidden City. Once upon a time the residence of Chinese emperors, it now houses a vast collection of imperial treasures, paintings, ceramics, and jade artefacts. It welcomed 19 million people last year. 

Second place goes to the Summer Palace, also in Beijing, another remnant of the country’s imperial past. Renowned for its gardens, temples and lakes, it attracted 17,381,000 visitors in 2025.

Beijing’s National Museum of China, tracing the country’s history and civilisation, comes tenth with 6,900,000 visitors, while Prince Kung’s Mansion Museum, a beautifully preserved Qing dynasty residence, ranks fourteen. Beijing’s fifth entry, which also closes the top 20, is the China Science and Technology Museum.

Elsewhere in China, the Emperor Qin Shihuang’s Mausoleum Site Museum in Xi’an, home to the famous Terracotta Army, takes third place on the winners’ podium with 10.97 million visitors.

Shenzhen’s Nanshan District Museum, dedicated to local history and cultural heritage, ranks sixth, while another defining chapter of Chinese history is explored at the Opium War Museum in Dongguan (9). The museum retraces the nineteenth-century conflicts between imperial China and Western powers, which marked the beginning of what China has long called its “century of humiliation”.

The Sanxingdui Museum in Guanghan, famous for its extraordinary bronze masks and sculptures, ranks fifteenth, just ahead of Chengdu’s Wuhou Shrine Museum, dedicated to the Three Kingdoms period.

Nanjing Museum, with its massive collection of Chinese art and archaeology, and the Shenyang Palace Museum, a former imperial residence, occupy eighteenth and nineteenth places respectively.

Europe is represented by only five institutions on the list, with Paris and London unsurprisingly leading the way.

Le Louvre in Paris, home to Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo, and countless other masterpieces, comes fourth with just over 9 million visitors in 2025. It remains the most visited museum outside of China.

France’s second entry is the Palace of Versailles (5), famous for its Hall of Mirrors and gardens, with 8.4 million visitors.

London, where many of the major museums offer free admission to their permanent collections, has two entries. The Natural History Museum (7), celebrated for its dinosaur fossils and natural history collections and the British Museum (13), home to the Rosetta Stone and Egyptian antiquities.

The Vatican Museums (8), whose collection includes Michelangelo’s celebrated frescoes in the Sistine Chapel, completes Europe’s representation.

South Korea also has two institutions in the ranking, both in Seoul: Gyeongbokgung Palace (11), the former royal residence of the Joseon dynasty and the National Museum of Korea (12), showcasing Korean art and archaeology.

Across the Atlantic, New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, or the Met, comes seventeenth. Famous for its collections spanning thousands of years and civilisations, it is the only American institution to make the top-20. 

Just over a decade ago, London, Paris, and Washington, DC, dominated the list. 

In the European top-20, many of the top places are former royal residences, including Versailles, Istanbul’s Topkapı Palace, Vienna’s Schönbrunn Palace and Kraków’s Wawel Royal Castle, alongside archaeological sites such as Pompeii.

L’article China claims 12 spots in world’s top 20 most-visited museums est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

Currently, the museum site is at the city’s Royal Albert Dock, but Apple Corps, the company John, Paul, George, and Ringo created in 1968, has announced the attraction is moving to new premises at the former St Johns Market in St Johns Shopping Centre, opposite Liverpool’s iconic Lime Street railway station.

The market and surrounding precinct were designed in 1969 by James A. Roberts. The architects replaced an 1822 neoclassical building with a Brutalist structure whose concrete forms were beloved by some and seen as an eyesore by others. It is now undergoing renovations that its website says will mean it is “stripped of its 1970s feel.”

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The Beatles museum will move in by 2028, taking up 10,000m² and comprising original artefacts, sets from a new four-part film by Sam Mendes due for release in spring 2028, and interactive displays intended to immerse visitors in the world of the Beatles, from their modest Liverpudlian childhoods to worldwide fame.

Visitors will be invited to explore a recreation of the legendary Liverpool Cavern, cradle of the Merseybeat sound. A mock-up of London’s Abbey Road Studios, where the band recorded nearly all their work and whose exterior zebra crossing features (in) on the album of the same name, will also be there, alongside other notable locations that peppered their journey.

Also forming part of the Beatles odyssey in the St Johns development will be the St Johns Beacon, or Radio City Tower. Oddly for a structure that is Liverpool’s second tallest, standing 138 metres tall, it will host an underwater-themed, Yellow Submarine-inspired attraction, offering 360-degree vistas.

It is anticipated the dual project will not only tap into the ongoing Beatles fanbase, but also new interest sparked by the upcoming Sam Mendes production, as well as today’s general popularity of music-driven travel and tourism.

Guests will be able to buy combi-tickets for the two new venues, and sales will go towards the Apple Corps Liverpool Trust, which raises funds to support new local talent and culture. The City Council, the Region Combined Authority, and the national UK government are all on board, and UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham has praised the “ambition” behind the scheme, which he said he wanted to see more of across Britain, “backing the things our great cities do best and turning that global reputation into jobs, opportunity and growth.”

Surviving Beatles Paul and Ringo have expressed enthusiasm for the new museum too. Sir Paul McCartney has said he is “humbled” that people are still interested in the band, and hailed the development as a way for fans to “step into our story,” while Starr noted Liverpool’s enduring status as “Music City.” Liverpool, which introduced a tourist tax in 2025, attracted over 36.3 million visitors that year, an increase of more than 12%, achieving 3.3 million overnight stays.

L’article Liverpool’s Beatles Story experience to quadruple in size and gain giant tower in 2028 est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

Organised by Brussels Museums, the city’s museum federation, the annual event brings together major institutions and smaller venues for a programme developed in collaboration with emerging artists. From 7:00 pm until 1:00 am, visitors can explore familiar collections in a different setting and discover museums they may not previously have visited.

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Brussels City Hall joins the programme for the first time this year, offering an opportunity to discover its interiors after hours. Other participating venues range from Autoworld and Train World to the House of European History and the Musical Instruments Museum.

The evening combines access to collections with creative activities, inviting visitors to experience museums as spaces for performance and participation as well as exhibition. The involvement of emerging artists adds another dimension to the event, bringing new interpretations and contemporary perspectives into the participating institutions.

Art, workshops and music after dark

Across the participating locations, the programme combines exhibitions with activities and performances, giving visitors several ways to experience the collections beyond a conventional museum visit.

At the Art & History Museum, an open studio will invite participants to explore modern Inuit art through practical experiments with colour and form. Drawing inspiration from its clean lines, simplified silhouettes and contrasting shapes, visitors can work with watercolour pencils or try a simple block print using a woodcut and watercolour.

The activity offers an opportunity to respond creatively to the exhibition, experimenting with soft colour gradients, pigment and contrasting forms rather than simply observing the works on display.

The Fashion & Lace Museum will host a workshop called “The Texture of Scent”, while the Belgian Museum of Freemasonry will offer a DJ set combining contemporary house music with samples from CEDOM’s Masonic audio archives.

The variety of activities makes it possible to build an evening around different interests, whether photography, history, fashion, transport or contemporary art. With 28 venues taking part, the event also offers a chance to move between institutions and experience different sides of Brussels’ cultural scene.

The six-hour programme leaves room for several stops, although the range of activities means visitors will need to make choices. Individual venue schedules provide a useful starting point for deciding which exhibitions, workshops and performances to prioritise.

Afterparties at Botanique and C12

The museum programme finishes at 1:00 am, but the evening continues at two afterparty venues for those with the appropriate ticket.

At Botanique, the programme spans club music, trance, pop and neoperreo across three stages. C12 will host Berlin-based Hyperaktivist, whose psychedelic-tinged techno will be accompanied by sets from Laura Charlier and Keyser.

In the smaller C11 space, RaQL will bring deconstructed Latin club sounds, alongside NMSS and Vera Moro. The afterparties extend the event’s combination of cultural discovery and nightlife beyond the museums themselves.

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Tickets and transport

Presale tickets are available until 16 October 2026. A standard ticket costs €18 and includes access to all 28 participating venues, shuttle buses and the Noctis night bus network.

A combo ticket costs €29 and also provides access to the afterparties. On the day of the event, prices rise to €22 for a standard ticket and €33 for a combo ticket.

The organisers’ online programme provides details of the activities at each venue, allowing visitors to choose their stops and plan an itinerary before the evening begins.

L’article Museum Night Fever returns to Brussels on 17 October with 28 participating venues est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

Organised into five themed zones exploring food traditions, cultural differences, and sustainable nutrition, the museum brings visitors face-to-face with real and replica exhibits, video and scent stations, and interactive displays.

Fermentation is a strong (smelling) aspect of the gallery of gastronomic rogues. Visitors will encounter surströmming, or Swedish fermented herring, which some people say tastes like nappies, as well as Icelandic fermented shark, hákarl. Greenlandic fermented seabirds, or kiviak, are also on the museum’s bold menu.

Some might argue that cruel and unusual food preparation methods are also up for discussion. One of the beverages among the exhibits is Peruvian frog juice – made by skinning live frogs like a banana, and blending the unfortunate creatures raw, with carrots, maca root, and honey.

If the idea of frog juice turns some stomachs, perhaps cheese and wine are more to visitors’ taste? That is, Sardinian maggot cheese, and wine in which hairless, baby mice have been steeped. No? Rest assured, the museum equips each visitor on entry with a vomit bag, just in case the culinary culprits on show become too much to bear.

Compared to some of the exhibits, nibbles made of crickets (one of the world’s most sustainable and high-quality sources of protein); sauerkraut juice; and the Australian yeast spread, Vegemite, seem relatively uncontroversial, but of course, everything is subjective. For those visitors prepared to try anything, the title of “Taste Bud Adventurer” is up for grabs.

The Disgusting Food Museum has opened at Kai Tak’S AIRSIDE. Photo: HKFP. https://t.co/KOSeK4ZMZI

— Hong Kong Free Press HKFP (@hkfp) September 28, 2026

In all, over 80 distinct types of food from all around the world can be encountered in the show, which has already seen installations in Berlin, Los Angeles, and Taipei, attracting over half a million guests so far.

To catch the temporary museum while it is in Hong Kong, note that it opens from midday to 8:00 pm, Monday to Thursday, with standard adult tickets priced at HK$68 (around €7.75). It is worth being aware that it’s more expensive to visit on weekends and public holidays, when opening hours are also shorter: from 11:00 am to 9:00 pm, when entry costs HK$88 (around €10). Children under four go free, and group tickets are on offer.

For those seeking a less revolting food experience, acclaimed Japanese chef Masahiro Tanabe will take up a four-night Hong Kong residency in Wan Chai’s MINATO, from 7 to 10 October 2026. He is proposing an 11-course menu, combining seasonal Japanese produce and classic French techniques. Bon appetit!

L’article Disgusting Food Museum opens in Hong Kong showcasing frog juice and fermented birds est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

The relaunch offers a pre-party on 2 and 3 October, with exhibitions and performances, as well as creative workshops, a design and makers’ market, and a backyard brunch across a further nine days of events across the city as part of Design Fest Gent. Prospective visitors can discover the full programme here.

The four-year closure and €21-million-worth of works by Carmody Groarke with ATAMA and RE-ST have transformed the design museum, connecting its historic ensemble with the 21st century, a press release explains, as well as better connecting its atmospheric inner courtyard with the rest, to “fully function as a garden—the heart of the museum and a clear point of orientation,” officials say.

Constructed of timber and brick, the new wing introduces six zones, intended to be welcoming, open, and adaptable. At basement level, the art-handling area offers a glimpse into the museum’s daily behind-the-scenes work. From there, visitors move through the Stadskamer (reception and shop), the Forum (lecture space), the Atelier (workshops), and the Vitrine (temporary exhibitions), before arriving at the Loft on the fourth floor—a “generous event space with panoramic views over the city of Ghent,” the museum highlights.

Opening exhibitions include Models from the Past for the Future, curated by Evelien Bracke; Public Matter(s): Design and Democracy, curated by Amelie Klein and Vera Sacchetti; CO-LAB, curated by Siegrid Demyttenaere; and Searcher, an AI installation that explores links across the collection.

Visitors are invited to interact and engage with more than 24,000 objects, over 3,700 square metres of exhibition space, with about 500 in the new collection display. The new flow through the items and new wing are claimed to “complete the loop” of the visitor experience.

The museum’s evolution is also “circular” in terms of its green credentials. Its facade is made of Gent Waste Brick, a “lime-cured brick produced from locally sourced municipal waste” which does not need to be fired in kilns and boasts a significantly reduced environmental footprint. More than 82,000 of the bricks were produced locally at Het Arsenaal in Ghent, a process the people of Ghent could follow live—again leaning into interactive community principles.

“This expansion and renovation are not simply aimed at creating more museum space, but something that goes beyond the museum: a place where the community can collectively process and interpret reality,” director Katrien Laporte explained, as reported by Finestre sull’Arte.

L’article Ghent Design Museum reopens after €21 million renovation est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

The possibility of a charge emerged during a wider discussion about how museums should be funded. Earlier this year, the government said it would explore the idea with museums, tourism organisations and local leaders. At the time, international visitors could soon be charged for entry to free UK museums. The proposal raised questions about how museums would distinguish overseas visitors from people entitled to free entry. Critics also questioned whether visitors should have to pay to see objects from their own countries in British collections. Those concerns formed part of the debate, but the government has now ruled out the charge.

The government says a charge aimed at overseas visitors could also discourage visits by people living in the UK. It believes the costs and benefits would differ between museums, making the change more useful to some than to others. Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy defended the decision at an event in Liverpool on 28 September 2026. “That’s why they must be free, forever, for everyone to access,” said Nandy. Her announcement came a day before the government published its confirmation of the policy.

Free admission to the national museums was introduced in 2001 and will reach its 25th anniversary later this year. The institutions continue to draw large crowds from the UK and abroad. According to the government, 7.1 million people visited the Natural History Museum in 2025, while the British Museum received 6.4 million visitors. The government also says national museums contribute more than £1 billion (about €1.17 billion) a year to the economy. These figures show the scale of the sector, although they do not tell us how many visitors would have stayed away if a charge had been introduced.

Keeping general admission free does not make every museum visit free of charge. Permanent collections are usually covered by the policy, while some temporary exhibitions and events require a separate ticket. At the British Museum, for example, visitors can see the permanent collection for free but must pay for certain special exhibitions. Museums may also invite visitors to make a donation, which is optional. Travellers planning to see a particular exhibition should check its ticket details before visiting.

The question of how to pay for museums remains. The government says £760 million (about €886 million) from its Arts Everywhere Fund is being provided for museums. It has also announced £600 million (about €699 million) in infrastructure funding for national museums and other cultural organisations supported by the culture department. That money is intended to help with essential maintenance and building work. A further £160 million (about €187 million) is being invested in local and regional museums. The government says it will work with Arts Council England and the museum sector on a longer-term plan, with more details to follow.

England’s decision differs from the approach taken by the Louvre in Paris. The French museum now lists a €32 ticket for visitors who are neither citizens nor residents of the European Economic Area, which includes the EU countries, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. Its standard adult ticket is €22, although exemptions and free admission periods also apply. For travellers comparing museum costs across Europe, the distinction matters: general entry to England’s national museums will remain free regardless of where a visitor comes from. A ticket may still be needed for a special exhibition.

L’article England’s national museums to remain free for overseas visitors
 est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

On 26 September 1986, Autoworld first opened its doors to the public. The opening was the result of a joint effort by King Albert II, Minister Louis Olivier, and President Herman De Croo to create a unique place where Belgian automotive history could come to life.

At the time, the Autoworld museum was mainly made possible through the automobile collection of the Mahy family, one of the largest in the world, which contributed to the creation of Autoworld. Some 2000 vehicles from Ghislain Mahy and his sons Hans and Ivan were displayed at the museum, many of them models from before the Second World War.

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Since then, the way in which Autoworld operates has changed. The museum owns just a couple of dozen cars, while most of the exhibitions are filled with vehicles from private collectors who temporarily loan the cars to the museum. Every year, Autoworld holds two major temporary exhibitions featuring around fifty vehicles, while numerous small pop-up exhibitions and automotive-related events take place on a more regular basis.

Throughout its existence, the museum has set up some 100 exhibitions, featuring more than 2,000 cars. The number of visitors has also increased exponentially, quadrupling over the past 10 years to reach 245,000 in 2025.

To celebrate its 40^th anniversary, Autoworld has put together a special exhibition called ‘Looking Back to the Future’. Until 23 December 2026, visitors can marvel at 15 cars, two motorcycles, and a Vespa – including a Bugatti Type 35, Lamborghini Miura, James Bond’s Toyota 2000GT Targa, and a Porsche 918 Spyder.

However, Autoworld’s 40^th anniversary will also be celebrated through a special Birthday Event on 4 October 2026. The programme includes an impressive Supercar Line-up at the heart of the museum, free guided tours, rides in cars from the museum’s collection, and activities for children.

One of the main events of the day, however, will be the Cars & Coffee Birthday Edition. From 10:00 am until 2:00 pm, the Esplanade of the Cinquantenaire Park in front of the museum will welcome all classic and youngtimer cars that are at least 20 years old, while a Best of Show awards ceremony will put the most memorable cars in the spotlight. Participation in the Cars & Coffee event is free, but prior registration is mandatory.

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Autoworld also has a special treat for those who happen to be born in 1986 or have a car that dates back to the year of its opening. People born in 1986 will be able to enjoy free admission to the museum upon presentation of their ID card on 4 October. The same goes for owners of a classic car dating from 1986 upon presentation of the vehicle’s registration certificate.

As far as the future is concerned, Autoworld recently obtained a new lease agreement based on government decisions and a Royal Decree, securing the building’s rental until 2041. The extension allows Autoworld to safeguard the museum’s future and to elevate the overall visitor experience to a higher level, and a major renovation is being planned behind the scenes.

L’article Autoworld Museum Brussels celebrates 40th anniversary with special exhibition and event est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

The model covers all five of New York’s boroughs, as well as parts of New Jersey and Long Island. Visitors can look for the Statue of Liberty, Yankee Stadium and the Brooklyn Bridge among its streets. It measures about 15 metres long and just over eight metres wide, with more than 340 sections fitted together to form the city. The museum provides binoculars so visitors can examine buildings that are difficult to see from the edge of the display.

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Miniature model of New York City, carved out of balsa wood,21 years to build, almost 1 million buildings, 50ft, long,30ft. wide.

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Anyone searching for a precise picture of present-day New York may notice something unusual. In Queens, Macken included a diner he remembered from childhood, although a newer building now stands on the site. He also kept the old Kosciuszko Bridge, which was replaced in 2017. In Lower Manhattan, the Twin Towers stand beside One World Trade Center, built after the attacks of 11 September 2001. “I kept a lot of my own parts of the city,” said Macken. The model shows places as he remembers them alongside places visitors would recognise today.

The idea began when Macken was a child. On a school trip to the Queens Museum, he saw its Panorama of the City of New York, another large model of the city. He did not begin his own version until he was in his 40s, after moving with his family from Long Island to the Albany area of New York state. Macken told the Associated Press that he thought he might have missed the city. He started with the tower at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, a landmark in Midtown Manhattan.

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Making Midtown alone took around ten years. The Empire State Building was especially difficult because Macken wanted to get the detail of its tower right. He had no formal training in architecture, design or model making, and used materials such as balsa wood and cardboard. The project followed him beyond his worktable: he took supplies on family holidays and built during breaks from his weekend bus-driving job. As he gained experience, he found he could make buildings far more quickly than when he started.

For years, the model remained a project at home. When Macken finished it, his daughter persuaded him to share videos of it on TikTok. According to the Associated Press, those videos attracted more than 10 million views in one week, and the museum contacted him after seeing them. The exhibition opened in February 2026, bringing his handmade New York before visitors in New York for the first time. Macken has said that he enjoyed building it so much that he had never spent much time thinking about finishing it.

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Jersey City New Jersey

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At the museum, visitors have been looking for more than famous sights. Some search for streets and neighbourhoods they once knew, using the model to follow their own memories across the city. One visitor, Jonathan Skolnik, pointed out places connected to his family, including his father’s first address in America and the neighbourhood in Queens where Skolnik was born. Macken is already thinking about additions of his own. He hopes to add more than 50 buildings and extend the model further into New Jersey and Long Island.

L’article Truck driver recreates New York with extraordinary 800,000-building model est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.