Space Inhabit. You Visit St. Patrick's Cathedral Essay

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space inhabit. You visit St. Patrick's Cathedral New York analyze experience understand design theories, concepts, historical precedents looked class.

Patrick's Cathedral in New York City: A historical and architectural overview

Patrick's Cathedral is a 'working' cathedral in the U.S.: it stands both as a historical monument but also offers the function of a place of worship to parishioners. "It is the seat of the archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, and a parish church" yet because of its location on Fifth Avenue right across from Rockefeller Center, it is not unusual to see churchgoers mingling with tourists and people coming to services next to people taking photographs.[footnoteRef:1] A visitor can quietly pray and seek spiritual solace -- or buy rosaries at the gift shop. Although it was not originally designed to accommodate such diverse uses but rather to tend to the needs of New York's immigrant Catholic population, the Cathedral manages to serve its multiple functions extremely well, thanks to its spacious Neo-Gothic design. It accommodates both the casual onlooker and the devout adherent to the Catholic faith, thus embodying many of the paradoxes of New York City as a whole: the need to symbolically represent the city and yet also to be functional for residents without the actual users of the building feeling on display as objects. [1: "St. Patrick's Cathedral," NYC Architecture, 11 Dec 2013, http://nyc-architecture.com/MID/MID054.htm]

The history of St. Patrick's dates back to the 19th century. "The site of the present cathedral was bought for $11,000 on March 6, 1810, as a site for a school for young Catholic men to be conducted by the Jesuits" but the area remained fallow until "on October 6, 1850, Archbishop John Joseph Hughes announced his intention to erect a new cathedral to replace the Old St. Patrick's, located on the intersection of Prince and Mott Streets on Mulberry Street."[footnoteRef:2] This coincided with the creation of the archdiocese of New York, which had previously been merely a diocese.[footnoteRef:3] Thus the existence of the archdiocese and St. Patrick's has always been inexorably intertwined. However, during its first years, the Cathedral was not viewed with the same awe and reverence as it is today. The parishioners of St. Patrick's were primarily working class, 'ethnic' Catholics who were "employed by the city's Episcopalian elite" as housekeepers and manual laborers. [footnoteRef:4] Its location near slaughterhouses and cattle yards was also not particularly prepossessing and was looked down upon by most genteel New Yorkers.[footnoteRef:5] St. Patrick's was a place where an Irish maid or tradesman could quickly slip in and worship during his or her arduous daily schedule of work: a necessity given the long hours the Irish were forced to work and the fact that they did not generally work for Catholics. [2: "St. Patrick's Cathedral," NYC Architecture] [3: "St. Patrick's Cathedral," NYC Architecture] [4: "St. Patrick's Cathedral," NYC Architecture] [5: "St. Patrick's Cathedral," NYC Architecture ]

Although New York City remains a fairly segregated city, ethnically speaking, during the 19th century, its atomization was particularly acute: residents tended to remain in areas of the city largely dominated by their own ethnicities and St. Patrick's community was no different. Far from the shining example of beauty and symmetry it is today, St. Patrick's began its history as a structure ministering to the 'common folk.' But the city began to change and increasingly midtown Manhattan became the heart and lifeblood of New York. The beauty of the Cathedral combined with the changing demographics of residents and visitors transformed the way in which the Cathedral was treated, even though many of its core structures remained fundamentally unaltered, including its fusion of French, British, and German Gothic stylization.

The style of St. Patrick's has been described as Neo-Gothic, an artistic movement which originally developed in the 18th century in England, reflecting a new interest in the Middle Ages," and the new aesthetic quality known as the "picturesque."[footnoteRef:6] Elaborate designs and motifs are the most obvious signifiers of the Neo-Gothic. However, "though Saint Patrick's was built in Gothic style, its design is original and distinct. The Cathedral is noted for its purity of style, originality of design, harmony of proportions, beauty of material, and workmanship. It is existing proof that American architects and American artisans can hold their own with the architects and artisans of the Old World and that Catholics of America can raise sacred structures that captivate and cultivate the admiration of those who see it."[footnoteRef:7] St. Patrick's is now touted with pride as an example of a work of architecture that Americans made uniquely their own, even though the style's first inspiration may have been European-derived.

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[6: Marc Maison, "Neo-Gothic style," Architectural resources, 11 Dec 2013 http://www.marcmaison.com/architectural-antiques-resources/neo_gothic_style] [7: Marcus Franz, "St. Patrick's Cathedral," Medieval New York. 1997 11 Dec 2013, http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/medny/stpat1.html]

Gothic architecture first became popular in the twelfth century. "At its height, Gothic architecture constituted one of humanity's most audacious and successful architectural experimentation." It was a highly decorative and elaborate style and marked a distinct shift from the early 'romanesque' style. "The Gothic…is dramatic, upward - reaching, and aspiring. It embodies the heightened sensitivity that one finds in the romance."[footnoteRef:8] All of these reasons are why the Gothic style was so well-suited to New York City. From a very practical perspective, the limits of urban space demanded an upward-reaching structure that was relatively narrow. It also visually embodied the aspirational qualities of New York and the Catholic immigrants it served. It has been said that "Saint Patrick's Cathedral is the continued quest to combine the resources of the earth with the talents of man in order to draw the minds, hearts and aspirations of a people to a higher level of thinking and feeling." [footnoteRef:9]The modern skyscraper may be said to be the secular embodiment of this while St. Patrick's embodies the theological essence of this truth. "Now, as in the Middle Ages, the cathedral is the tower of gifts from men on earth designed in reach far above the earth both physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually…A cathedral is an outward sign of the inward potential human beings have been given."[footnoteRef:10] [8: Franz, 1997] [9: Franz, 1997] [10: Franz, 1997]

The design of St. Patrick's reflects the faith's religious belief structures within its interior as well as its outward designs. "The lines of a Latin cross form the plan of Saint Patrick's. The vestibules with its entrances at Fifth Avenue the body, or Nave of the church compose the long arm of the cross. Its arms reaching north and south are the transepts, their entrances are on Fiftieth and Fifty-First Street."[footnoteRef:11] It exhibits what are considered "the two main structural innovations of Gothic architecture" in the form of "pointed arches and ogival or ribbed vaulting."[footnoteRef:12] The cross-ribbed groined vault allows ribs to support a much thinner structure: "cross-ribbed vaulting functions in much the same manner as plain groined vaulting, except that it is reinforced with ribs, and can be made much thinner. The vault uses a diagonally reinforced arch resting on thin pillars, permitting the walls to be hollowed out (and thus, filled with windows), while also allowing the vaults to extend higher.[footnoteRef:13]" This also enabled the decorative use of interior columns and exterior flying buttresses and opened up the inside of churches in a more spacious and capacious manner than during the romanesque period. [11: Franz, 1997] [12: "Gothic architecture," Athena Review, 4.2, 11 Dec 2013, http://www.athenapub.com/14gothic-architecture.htm] [13: "Gothic architecture," Athena Review, 4.2, 11 Dec 2013, http://www.athenapub.com/14gothic-architecture.htm]

Once again, the specifics of the design make the structure ideal for city worship, given the number of people it must accommodate at a single time. The wide, open space also allows for the visitors to segment themselves based upon their needs, whether they wish to engage in quiet contemplation or whether they want to gawk at the sights like a conventional tourist. However, there are also enclaves within the structure to allow for more personal, private acts of devotion such as having an infant baptized or praying to a particular saint. One of the challenges of any worship structure within New York City is to ensure that the actual users of the building are isolated from the hustle and bustle of the city. St. Patrick's Cathedral attempts to create a clear demarcation between secular and sacred space, and the lighting as well as the cross-like shape of the building are a notable demarcating point between outside and inside. Noted one observer: "despite that entering from a sunny Fifth Avenue it takes the eyes some time to adjust as every window is filled with stained glass with much use of blue and darker reds, a wonderful jewel-like show." [footnoteRef:14] [14: "St. Patrick's Cathedral," NYC Architecture, 11 Dec 2013, http://nyc-architecture.com/MID/MID054.htm]

The darkness and the flood of colored lights from the stained glass however, create a notable contrast between being at St. Patrick's and being in the light of day. Instead of the typical New York City experience of being in bright lights,….....

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