Someone is miniaturizing Toronto buildings down to the smallest detail
Toronto neighbourhood buildings are being miniaturized by a local artist, and your favourite facade could be next.
Rodger Beck had a hand in Toronto's ubiquitous blocky LoveBots, and also had his art featured on stickers in the city's very own sticker museum.
Beck already has Instagram accounts for his art but at the beginning of 2020 he started one for his miniature work called @alittlebitofbeck. There, you can follow his progress miniaturizing everything from money, bags of chips, magazines, cars, pairs of jeans, bottles of water and beer to gasoline canisters, dog food and laptops.
He started a new project in March of 2021: miniaturizing new fried chicken restaurant Birdies.
"This is actually the first miniature Toronto building I've created," Beck tells blogTO.
"I have a short list of places I've wanted to do but when Birdies popped up in the neighbourhood, I really liked what the new owners did with the almost-century old building and I decided this would be the one."
Recreating the restaurant in miniature wasn't without its challenges: It took eight tries to get the brickwork on the front exactly right.
He recreated the business down to the finest detail, including little things like their DineSafe sign, the door to the apartment upstairs and the payphone wire that runs down their wall. The entire process is painstakingly catalogued in an extensive Imgur thread.
He has a handful of suggestions for other buildings, and a couple of commissions for other restaurants in Toronto. Roncesvalles restaurant The Ace is up next.
"My grandfather had a big train set in his basement that he built himself, with tunnels and buildings and everything. He encouraged me from a young age. I've always been fascinated with tiny versions of things," says Beck.
"I look at a lot of buildings, especially older buildings in Toronto, and think of how I could break them down into elements to make tiny versions. I'm looking forward to exploring more of the city for inspiration."
Rodger Beck
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