Maybe you don’t read blueprints very well. Maybe two dimensional perspective sketches aren’t quite good enough. Well how about a very large scale model of the Cathedral that you can walk inside? Oh yes, now you see it. That is what Heins and La Farge created so that there was no mistaking what their design would look like.
From the December 1900 issue of Carpentry and Building Journal, comes this article. The finished model was displayed in the Leake & Watts building lobby on the Grounds.
“We understand that arrangements have been made for a public exhibition this winter of a complete model of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, now in progress of erection on Cathedral Heights, New York City. The model will be of plaster supported on wood and iron frame work, with sheets of matting for the purpose of keeping the walls firm. The model will be about 50 feet by 25 feet in plan and 35 feet high. It is said that there will be room for 100 or more people to walk inside, and that the architects, Heins and LaFarge, have worked upon this model for nearly two years. The model will be exhibited on the site of the cathedral, and probably small fee will be charged.”
This view is of the interior of the model. It is looking towards the Altar past the Choir area from the future Crossing. The work is highly detailed inside and out.
- Carpentry and Building Journal, December 1900
- All Photos – Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy, The New York Public Library. 1900. Manhattan: Amsterdam Avenue – Cathedral Parkway