Cathedral of St. John the Divine

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The Cathedral of St. John the Divine plan for development on delineated areas of its 15 acre Close required tacit approval from the New York City Landmark Preservation Commission ("CPC"). The rationale for the delineation of the future development sites continues the way existing buildings on the Close are sited to frame views of aspects of the Cathedral from the public sidewalks. A time-based 3D visualization simulated a person with a miner's hat walking along the street looking at the Cathedral. The portions of the 3D model of the Cathedral which are white are what can be seen by a pedestrian at that moment above the trees, and the grey what could be seen through the trees. The verifiable visual simulation clearly represented how the proposed development Close also framed new views of the apse, crossing, and south transept. The simulations also made clear to the CPC Commissioners, vestry, and public, that a pedestrian walking along the southerly, easterly, and westerly sidewalks only sees fragments of the Cathedral and never the whole Cathedral…the brain does that for us.

Related Links:

"Big Buildings Planned on Site of St. John," David Dunlap, New York Times, June 2003