That was the question posed to me by Historic Hudson Valley, the premier operator of historic sites along the Hudson River, including Washington Irving’s Sunnyside, Philipsburg Manor, Van Cortlandt Manor, Montgomery Place, and Kykuit, the Rockefeller Estate. They envisioned a spectacular centerpiece for the entrance library of HHV’s brand-new headquarters building near Tarrytown, NY: a large, lighted map model displaying every historic site in the Hudson Valley.

Since I’ve tackled just about every conceivable design challenge in my career, my usual reply to the question “Can you do this?” is a resounding “Sure I can!” But this time I had to say, “I think I can...let me get back to you.”

So I began thinking. I've created hundreds of maps over the years, but they’ve all been flat. How would I create a 3-dimensional map? I could mold it out of clay, or carve it out of plasticene, form it out of paper maché, or maybe create a mold and then have it cast. But then how would I paint it, and how would I letter town names and highway numbers on a 3-dimensional surface? How would I deliver this heavy, fragile model without any breakage?

In researching the project, I discovered a couple of fellows in California who had invented a new technology: they could feed satellite coordinates from any area of the globe into a computer-driven router, which carves intricately-detailed terrain out of high-density, lightweight, white styrofoam. They directed me to a local museum which had one of their models on exhibit.

This model was great, but it was white. The colors and graphics were subtlely displayed onto the surface via a ceiling-mounted projector. It was a cool effect, but not appropriate for Historic Hudson Valley’s headquarters. I wanted the graphics to be printed directly onto the model, like a traditional map.

Then I discovered a method of doing just that. So I called HHV and told them “I can do it!”, submitting a proposal which they accepted.

To make the graphics for the model, I obtained satellite photos of the exact area and began painting over them with transparent colors in Photoshop, allowing the underlying photos to show through. I added layer after layer of graphics, including mountain shading, parks and urban areas, as well as highways and town names. When completed, I had the large painting ink-jet printed over the surface of the terrain model. It worked wonderfully!

Left: The white model with projected graphics. Right: My model with printed graphics.

Now I had to consider how the terrain model would be displayed. I designed a unique case with interior lighting and a protective glass top, which the experienced carpenters at HHV built themselves, to match the traditional furnishings of the new Headquarters.

The next challenge was to indicate the locations of the 76 historic sites of the area, keyed to infromation and photographs of each site. I positioned numbered map pins into the model’s surface, and designed graphic panels to surround the four sides of the model, displaying the corresponding site names and photos. The glass top was installed, the interior lights switched on, and everyoned “oohed” and “ahhed” at the end result.