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    Almost all of the following architectural and urban history publications are peer-reviewed.
    They are republished in full on my website, so as to guarantee public access by people outside academia. Contact me.

Category: Artwork

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Mapping Manhattan Chinatown’s Public Realm

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Pedestrian Observations explores Manhattan’s Chinatown’s public and private spaces through a detailed panoramic drawing and map of contested land uses. This project was co-published by Myles Zhang with non-profit artist collective City as Living Lab and architect Stephen Fan. The printed folding map highlights the vibrant interactions among diverse community members, while emphasizing the need for better public space management. Inspired by urban theorists, the project seeks to foster conversation about economic development and resilient urban environments.

《行人观察》(Pedestrian Observations) 将详尽的全景绘画对照各种土地利用的地图，深入探讨曼哈顿华埠的公共与私人空间的使用。该项目由张之远 (Myles Zhang），建筑师樊一鸣 (Stephen Fan)， 和艺术家公益团体“城市实践工作室” (City as Living Lab) 联合出版。这份折叠地图描绘多元社区成员之间充满活力的互动，同时强调加强公共空间管理的必要性。本项目综合城市理论家的研究，提倡灵活变通的都市环境，从而促进经济发展。
Visit: CityasLivingLab.org/chinatown VIEW PROJECT >

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All New York City in one drawing

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The ink on paper detailed panorama of New York City took 800 hours to complete. The image measures 45 inches high by 79 inches wide (114 cm by 201 cm) and features every neighborhood and key landmark the length of Manhattan island. As my art project created during the pandemic, it serves as a personal keepsake and reflection of my rich memories of New York City.

Drawing is shared online in lower resolution. Email me for the full-size file. Custom size prints will be mailed to your home address on request. VIEW PROJECT >

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Computer Model of the Kaaba in Mecca

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The Kaaba (Arabic: ٱلْـكَـعْـبَـة “The Cube”) is a building at the center of Islam’s most important mosque in Mecca.

In 2018, I was unhappy with the available quality of 3D digital models of the Kaaba. So I created this accurate-to-the-inch model based on architects’ drawings and photos. VIEW PROJECT >

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Amiens Cathedral Construction Sequences

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Amiens Cathedral is a key subject in the Art Humanities Core Curriculum class that is required of all undergraduates at Columbia University. This research project is now used in the classroom instruction of 1,400 Columbia undergrads each year. This project created with Stephen Murray uses computer models and films to visualize the centuries-long time-lapse construction sequence of Amiens Cathedral. This research highlights the cathedral’s role in medieval society: as symbol of civic identity, as economic engine, and as nation-building tool for the future French state.

Visit: projects.mcah.columbia.edu/amiens-arthum VIEW PROJECT >

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The Urban Development of Newark: 1660-2016

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As Newark celebrated the 350th anniversary of its 1666 founding, I created this series of time-lapse drawings based on historical images and maps. As Newark develops from a small town to a bustling and industrial metropolis, the sounds of my animation shift from quiet woodlands to the din of the vibrant city with rising skyscrapers. This two-minute film aims to represent history as a living, fluid process. VIEW PROJECT >

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New York Chinatown: time-lapse drawing

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This time-lapse of Manhattan Chinatown took sixty hours to complete and measures 26 by 40 inches. The artwork features Chinatown’s tenements in the foreground, with Lower Manhattan’s skyscrapers towering above.

Drawing is shared online in lower resolution. Email me for the full-size file. Custom size prints will be mailed to your home address on request. VIEW PROJECT >

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Model of Jane’s Carousel in Brooklyn

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A wind-up music box featuring Jane’s Carousel along the Brooklyn Waterfront. When closed, the antique cigar box measures a mere 7 by 7 inches and 3 inches deep (18 x 18 x 8 cm). When opened, the Brooklyn Bridge and historic Jane’s Carousel fold out. The carousel spins to the tune of the music while the moon slides across the night sky. VIEW PROJECT >

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Walking in Manhattan

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This project features a portfolio gallery of my drawings, watercolors, paintings, and photographs of Manhattan island. The portfolio is divided into ten “walks” over the chapter structure of ten “days.” Each “day” features some of my artwork about a different neighborhood of Manhattan: Chinatown, SoHo, East Village, West Village, the High Line, Madison Square, Midtown, Central Park, Riverside Drive, Morningside Heights, Harlem, and Washington Heights. VIEW PROJECT >

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Proposal for a space age house

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Space House is inspired from images of 1950s futurism and from architect Buckminster Fuller’s proposal for the ideal, modern home, the Dymaxion House. This circular model made of paper is three floors tall and fifteen inches in diameter. The house is painted silver, circular, and domed to evoke the streamlined images of 1950s American cars. VIEW PROJECT >

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New Jersey Meadowlands

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A visual essay featuring some of my watercolors, pastel images, and ink line drawings of the New Jersey Meadowlands. These images – both real and imagined – were inspired by industrial scenes I saw outside the train window when commuting between home in Newark and school in Hoboken, NJ. VIEW PROJECT >

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New York City in Miniature

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The impressive range New York’s architecture, from the humblest home to the slenderest tower, is expressed through this model of my memories. With a base measuring 28 by 36 inches (70 x 90 cm), I built this model in middle school out of wood, paper, and plastic. It contains several dozen of the city’s landmarks, skyscrapers, people, lampposts, subway stations, and a bevy of operating subway cars. VIEW PROJECT >

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Panoramic artwork of the New York City skyline

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When I gaze across the Hudson River from New Jersey, the soaring towers, glassy behemoths, and dark canyons of Manhattan instill me with awe. The broad expanse of the city juts out of the water with crenelated and jagged skyscrapers as if proclaiming: “I am here to stay. Come sun, wind, or water, I will remain. I will grow.” VIEW PROJECT >

Cathedral of Saint John the Divine

Gallery

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View more artwork like this about my experiences walking in New York City.

Also featured in the Columbia Daily Spectator in September 2016

Apse & Organ
Apse

The Cathedral of Saint John the Divine soars above the low-slung tenements and boxy towers that edge up against it. Unfinished it survives; funds have long since dried up in our era of secularism and consumerism. Yet powerful it stands; solid stone will outlive the concrete and glass city. The cathedral’s soaring jagged silhouette seems to proclaim against the soot that darkens its façade and the urban din that drowns out the sanctity of silence: Come weather, wind, or rain, I will stand.

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