# A stylized New York built from thousands of meshes

> A WebGL study of dense city geometry: a non-photorealistic New York skyline with selectable buildings, soft shadows and real-time navigation.

Canonical page: https://andersonmancini.dev/blog/new-york-city-map-study

Published: 2026-09-20 · 1 min read · Tags: three.js, webgl, maps, performance, launch

How much of a city can a browser carry? This was a study to push that limit with **dense, complex geometry**: thousands of meshes arranged into a stylized New York skyline.

![The stylized New York map](https://andersonmancini.dev/images/nyc_interactive_map.webp)

## A graphic city, not a satellite clone

The city is intentionally **non-photorealistic**: clean blocks, soft shadows and a graphic read of the streets. That is a technical choice and an artistic one. A stylized city is cheaper to draw, and it is clearer to read.

## What you can do

- navigate the map,
- click selected buildings,
- and keep it all clear, clickable and readable in real time.

It is a focused demo of **scale and interaction**, proving that WebGL can carry a full urban layout.

## Try it

The map is live at [interactive-map-nyc-neotix.vercel.app](https://interactive-map-nyc-neotix.vercel.app/), and the details are on the [project page](https://andersonmancini.dev/projects/new-york-city-map.md).

## Related projects

- [New York City Map](https://andersonmancini.dev/projects/new-york-city-map.md) — Complex interactive city map study