On View
Gulliver’s Gate, a $40 Million Model of the World’s Most Famous Monuments Is Coming to NYC
See the world in miniature.
Can’t afford that European vacation? With Gulliver’s Gate, the world’s most famous monuments are headed to New York’s Times Square, albeit in miniature form.
The city’s newest attraction, Gulliver’s Gate is a $40 million model the size of a football field, with tiny, interactive versions of the Empire State Building, the Eiffel Tower, Buckingham Palace, the Great Wall of China, and the Great Pyramids, among other classic tourist destinations.
Gulliver’s Gate was built by Israeli designer Eiran Gazit, an expert in hyper-realistic models. It features both contemporary landscapes and scenes from world history.
Here is the official description of the project:
Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels told of an 18th century adventurer entering fantastical, hidden places where he discovered his expectations challenged and his sense of wonder expanded. It is our goal to do the same for the 21st century, with an immersive display that utilizes the latest interactive technology to make the experience of an intricate and tiny world even more rich and engaging.
And you can be a visitor to that tiny world in more ways that one, because Gulliver’s Gate is opening its borders, inviting “early supporters and visitors” to become citizens. The main perk of citizenship is having your own mini figure added to display, created based on a full-body scan. You also get a framed photograph of your mini-me in its new home, and passport to come back—with a discount of course.
The model features 1,000 trains and 10,000 cars and trucks, as well as a functional airport with flying planes and a version of the International Space Station. The trains and vehicles will traverse a massive network of roads and rails, with the display’s longest track measuring a stunning eight miles long. The model is built in HO, a 1:87 scale.
The Metropolis model, based on New York City, was built in 358 days, while the Asia model, which features both the continent’s bustling metropolises and majestic landscapes, takes up half of a city block.
In addition to international icons, the Gulliver’s Gate website promises “lands that otherwise only exist in our imagination… packed with a lot of ‘action,’ surprises, and humor,” including Spanish literary hero Don Quijote tilting at his famous windmill.
Gulliver’s Gate opens to the public April 4, and if you buy tickets online, they are discounted from $36 to $25 until May 8.
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