What is This? A Center for Ants? The phrase originates from the 2001 comedy film “Zoolander,” where the character Derek Zoolander, played by Ben Stiller, is confused by a scale model of a building, mistaking it for the real thing. This quote has since become a popular way to humorously criticize something for being much smaller than expected.
By exploring the humorous side of architectural scale and its importance in design, an interesting connection can be made between this meme and architecture. Architects often use scale models to design buildings, and this meme could be used to emphasize the confusion that can arise when scale is misrepresented or misunderstood. A piece delving into the role of scale models in architecture, how they are interpreted by non-professionals, and their importance in the design process could use this meme to engage a broader audience in a discussion about architectural literacy and appreciation.
Following the movie’s release, the famous quote was parodied in various headlines across several news sources, such as Vulture New York Magazine, and Apartment Therapy, among others. By 2011, similar sayings such as “What is this? A picture for ants?” and “What is this? A video for ants?”, also known as snowclone variations, started to appear on internet comedy pages and media-sharing websites like Memegenerator, Reddit and Cheezburger. Additionally, a single-topic Tumblr blog was created in August 2011 called What is This? A______ for Ants? which showcases tiny objects and small-scale models. Then, in February 2013, a subreddit, named “r/thingsforants” based on the same concept, was launched.
