James Renwick
SAINT
PATRICK’S
CATHEDRAL
C A R I N A T A P I A
2 4 / 0 9 / 2 0 2 4
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
INCREASING POPULATION
New York city faced increasing population
End of American Revolutionary War
2.8 immigrants by 1880, most came from Ireland
LAND PURCHASE
Land was purchased by the Jesuits in 1810
They intended for the land to be used as a college
and a chapel.
Jesuits sold the land to the French Trappists
CATHEDRAL
Named for St. Patrick, patron of Ireland
Payed by Irish immigrants
Battles between Protestants and Catholics
FATHER JOHN
JOSEPH HUGHES
1
1850, was named
Archbishop of New York
He fought against
Protestant’s attacks
Gathered irish men to defend
Saint Patrick´s church, He even
placed snipers on the rooftop.
Choosing an architect
4
1853 he hired James Renwick to design the
plans for the Saint Patrick’s cathedra.
5
Fun fact: although he fought against
protestants for many years, he chose a
Protestant architect to design the cathedral.
“For the glory of Almighty God, for the honor of the Blessed and Immaculate Virgin, for the
exaltation of Holy Mother Church, for the dignity of our ancient and glorious Catholic name, to
erect a Cathedral in the City of New York that may be worthy of our increasing numbers,
intelligence, and wealth as a religious community, and at all events, worthy as a public
architectural monument, of the present and prospective crowns of this metropolis of the
American continent.”
Father John Joseph Hughes
NOVEMBER 1, 1818
JAMES RENWI CK JR
Studied engineering at Columbia
Supervisor on the Croton Reservoir
construction project in Manhattan.
One of the most successful
architectsof America
Spent time in France studying the
French Gothic style buildings.
1843 submitted his design for a new
Grace Church
One of the first designs
showcasing the complete
understanding of the Gothic style.
NEW YORK CITY
SOME OF HIS BUILDINGS
REINWICK BUILDING ALL SAINTS’ ROMAN GRACE CHURCH
CATHOLIC CHURCH
1859 1893 1846
LANCASTER ST. DENIS HOTEL
BUILDING
1887 1853
NEO GOTI CH STYLE
Also known as gotic revival
Emerged in the lateh 18th to 19th
century
Became an important style in Europe
and North America (churches)
Specialty in designing churches,
universities and public buildings
CHARACTERISTICS
Pointed arches: signature elements Ornamentation and detailing
Ribbed vaults: Vertical emphasis
Butresses Decorated interiors
Large stains glass windows Use of local materials
ST PATRICK´S CATHEDRAL
Construction took more than 20 years.
Corerstone was placed on August 15, 1858.
The work was interrupted by the American Civil War.
Construction process restarted in 1865.
Saint Patrick’s Cathedral was completed in 1878.
IDEAS OF THE TIME
OF ARCHITECTURAL
IMPORTANCE
Saint Patrick was conceived in a time
where architecture in the Western world
was influenced by a historical revival style.
As industrialization spread all over europe
19th century
and the USA, many architects were getting
their inspiration from the past.
Architects were trying to create buildings
that transmit thetimeless values and
spiritual meaning of them
RENWICK’S DECISIONS
Saint Patrick was not just inspired by the neo-gothic style, it
was an effort to link the catholic church with the long
traditions of gothic cathedrals in europe.
He incorporated modern materials and construction
techniques of the time.
James Renwick Jr
NEW IDEAS
He wasn´t trying to copy the
forms of the past, but
reinterpreting them in the new
context of technological
advances.
Saint Patrick is an example of
how the 19th century architects
created buildings that were
rooted in tradition and response
to the modern world.
UNKNOWN FACTS
When the cathedral was first build, it was surrounded by familiar mansions wich allowed the tall
spires to be the main focus of attention, but when the city started to grow on economy and
population, the cathedral got lost into the city.
ARCHITECTURAL
FEATRURES
Location: 5th Ave, New York
Manhattan, United States
Built: 1851 – 1879 – 1888
Height: 100.58m
Width: 83.51m
Length: 123m
Architectonic style: Neo- gothic
style
Windows: more than 2,800
stained glass panels and the 26
foot wide rose window.
Seats: 2,400
“Symetrical shape instead of a more common
asymetric church plant”
James Renwick
THE PLANNING
Two towers and spires that shows the difference in design
with ordinary churches.
Has european influence.
Combined different architectural traditions to create a new
american style.
PLANT
Latin cross plant
Nave of the church made shorter by
the long arm of the cross that extends
from north and south.
The transept has entrances on the
50th and 51th streets.
Slender marble columns support the
vaults that rise 33 meters above the
ship.
At the center, the main altar of the
church is located
FACADE
Twin spires: reach 330 feet, create a
vertical dramatic emphasis
mark of gothic architecture, draw
the eyes up to heaven.
Pointed arches: three main entrances
are surrounded by the pointing arches
Rose window: at the center between
the two spires stands the rose window.
filled with elaborated stained glass
gothic symbol seen in the cathedral
FACADE
Butresses: contribute with the sense
of verticality, and to give support
Pinnacles: seen all over the facade,
but mainly at the top of the cathedral
where structural elements end.
have a leaf like form
create visual interests
help to balance the sructure’s
tallest weights above the butresses
S PIRES
PINNACLES
ROS E WINDOW
BUTRES S ES
MATERIALS
The roof is wooden made because of the
economy, but received a treatment to
look like stone.
The main altar is covered by a canopy of
17 meter bronze baldachin
Build of brick and covered with marble
extracted of the quarries of NYC.
Stained glass windows
TIMELINE
1888: Spires were completed.
1908: Lady Chapel was finished.
1928-1930: Kilgen Organs installed.
1940-1970: Capital improvements made.
1990: The Kilgen organs were restored.
2003: The Lady Chapel was restored.
WATER SYSTEM
Roof drainage system: with the
steep slopes, pinnacles and
spires, it is designed to handle
significant amount of
water,drainage system consists of:
Gutters and downspouts
Gargoyles
Foundation drainage: built for a
long term stability, includes:
Subsurface drainage
Waterprooing
Water conservation and sustainability: in their most recent renovations they
included rainwater harvesting as well as lof-flow fixtures
Divert Stormwater
Geothermal wells: reducing energy consumption
James Renwick´s
CONTRIBUTIONS
His architectural style was influenced by
the eclecticism of the time.
Architecture should serve as practical
and symbolic purposes.
For Saint’s Patrick design, he combined
elements from French and English
gothic architecture with the american
materials and constructive methods.
HIGHLIGHTS
Characterized by it´s pure style, the origniality in design, the
harmony found in its proportions and also the well chose and
beauty of its materials used to build the cathedral made it a
symbolism for catholics at the time and nowadays.
UNKNOWN FACTS
There where a lot of donations for the construction of the cathedral but they weren’t enough. In 1878
the Great Cathedral Fair was held to help fund the last process of construction. Due to its low budget,
the vault instead of being made by stone, it was going to be build out of wood.
SAINT PATRICK
The spirit of St. Patrick will always be present in the cathedral, as it holds a relic of his.
CONCLUSION
Although Saint Patrick’s Cathedral is
firmly rooted in the Neo-gothic revival
tradition, it also contains elements
that foreshadow the developments of
modern architecture.
Renwick’s emphasis on creating a
building that was both functional and
symbolic reflects the modern belief of
architecture.
We can see how Saint Patrick’s cathedral can be seen as an ancestor to modern architecture in its
integration with its urban environment. The cathedral’s verticality and monumental scale foreshadow
the skyscrapers that would later dominate the New York skyline.
REFERENCES
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (1998, 20 july). James Renwick | Gothic Revival, Washington
D.C., St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 24 september 2024, from
https://www.britannica.com/biography/James-Renwick-Jr
D o n ́ t m e s s w i t h D a g g e r J o h n . ( 2 0 1 8 , 7 m a r z o ) . N e w Y o r k T i m e s . R e t r e i e v e d 2 4 s e p t e m b e r 2 0 2 4 , f r o m
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/07/nyregion/dont-mess-with-dagger-john.html
Saint Patrick’s Cathedral - Data, Photos & Plans - WikiArquitectura. (2020, 29 september).
WikiArquitectura. Retrieved 24 september 2024, from https://en.wikiarquitectura.com/building/saint-
patricks-cathedral/#st-patrick-empl%20https://www.villagepreservation.org/2020/11/11/southofunion
square-james-renwick-jr-tour/
Goldsmith, M. (2023, February 7). Everything you didn’t know about St Patrick’s Cathedral, New York
City. Forbes. Retrieved 24 september 2024, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/margiegoldsmith/
2023/02/07/everything-you-didnt-know-about--st-patricks-cathedral-nyc/
Van Huyssteen, J. (2023, August 22). St Patrick’s Cathedral – Architecture of St Patrick’s Cathedral. Art
in Context. Retrieved 24 september 2024, from https://artincontext.org/st-patricks-cathedral/
Pierson, A. (2024, January 2). St. Patrick’s Cathedral architecture | History & features. Designblendz.
Retrieved 24 september 2024, from https://www.designblendz.com/blog/the-architecture-of-st.-
patricks-cathedral
