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Modern art brought to life in stunning 3D
In the concrete sprawl of New York City, artist Day Lane sees more than just buildings and sidewalks—she sees a treasure trove of hidden gems waiting to be uncovered. Her fascination? Fire hydrants and other overlooked pieces of public infrastructure. While most people walk past them without a second thought, for Day, they’re the stars of a playful urban adventure. Armed with Polycam, she’s turning the city into her canvas, capturing hydrants in a way that goes far beyond a simple photo.
Growing up in Cambridge, Day spent her weekends biking around the city with her dad, snapping pictures of every hydrant they could find. It was a quirky hobby that sparked her lifelong love for urban design, but photos alone never quite captured the personality of these objects. Years later, she stumbled upon Polycam while scrolling through social media, where creators were sharing intricate 3D scans of everyday items. The potential was clear: this was the tool that could finally give her hydrant project the depth it deserved.
Curious and eager to try it out, Day bought an iPhone 13 Pro specifically for Polycam, diving headfirst into a new way of documenting the city. With the app’s 3D scanning capabilities, she could now capture hydrants with a level of detail and dimensionality that photos couldn’t match. Suddenly, her project wasn’t just about taking pictures—it was about creating an interactive, digital archive of urban artifacts, turning the act of discovery into a game.
For Day, each scan is like collecting a piece of the city’s puzzle. Polycam allows her to turn mundane encounters with street objects into a playful scavenger hunt, where every hydrant, street sign, or piece of graffiti becomes part of an ongoing quest. It’s not just about preservation; it’s about reimagining the city as a series of designed experiences, each with its own unique character. “I’ve always loved the small, often overlooked details in urban spaces,” Day says. “With Polycam, I can bring those details to life in a way that feels more immersive and playful.”
Over the past year, Polycam has become central to Day’s creative practice. She’s scanned hundreds of hydrants, as well as street art, lost gloves, and other discarded objects—anything that reflects the quirky beauty of urban design. Her project has evolved into a kind of interactive art series, one that blurs the lines between documentation, exploration, and digital storytelling. Fans have started reaching out, sharing coordinates of hydrants they think she should scan next. But for Day, the joy is in the hunt, so she prefers to gather the scans herself, treating each new location as an opportunity for discovery.
Day’s use of Polycam has also sparked a sense of community around her work. While she enjoys fan engagement, she likes to keep her hydrant project personal, encouraging others to share locations rather than submit their own scans. “It’s not just about the hydrants,” she explains. “It’s about the journey of finding them, the stories they tell, and the way they connect us to our surroundings.”
For Day, the world isn’t a series of random objects; it’s a carefully designed playground, full of surprises waiting to be uncovered. Polycam has given her a new lens through which to view the city, transforming her everyday walks into adventures filled with discovery. Whether she’s capturing the vibrant colors of a hydrant, documenting a hidden street mural, or scanning a forgotten piece of street furniture, Day is creating a digital archive that celebrates the character of the urban landscape—one 3D model at a time.
Day Lane is a New York-based producer, multi-disciplinary artist, and avid Polycam user. Her work explores the intersection of art, technology, and urban design. You can see more of her digital captures and quirky finds at dayroselane.com, where hydrants are just the beginning of her collection.
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