Hasta La Ideas

Create a paper Gotham city with a new DIY book

As urbanization continues to increase many of NYC’s 20th-century icons–from the Empire State Building to MTA subway cars–have become short-hand for our super-urban-modern existence.

Kell Black’s 48-page Paper New York makes a great gift or DIY diversion for recreating the metropolis from paper. With arcing spans of the Brooklyn Bridge and the hot dog carts that clutter midtown Manhattan, you just need scissors, adhesive, nimble fingers and a monk’s patience to re-imagine all types of city architecture. What better meditation on the the seething city is there than crafting a mini Hayden Planetarium from inside the comfort of your own six-floor-walk-up efficiency studio?

Black, an associate professor of art at Austin Peay State University in Tennessee, has also exhibit his dark drawings in the past in Nashville, though this is his first book. Due out 26 October 2010, pre-order it from Amazon.