ABSTRACT
A handful of museums and archives attempt to maintain twentieth-century model collections. Historic models are few and far between and most of these are relatively large – Wren’s Great Model of Saint Paul’s, Sangallo’s model of Saint Peter’s – measuring metres long, built and carefully maintained almost as surrogate reliquaries. These examples were made to be viewed internally as well as externally. Patrons crawled underneath these mounted models and experienced the nished naves and cloisters at eye level as disembodied giant heads; precomputational Baroque y-through experiences. The recent refurbishment of Sir Edwin Lutyen’s 1933 model for the Liverpool Catholic cathedral oers this rareed experience anew (Figures 12.1 and 12.2). The model comprehensively archives Lutyen’s radical approach to what would
have been England’s largest cathedral and, at the time, the world’s largest dome. Lutyen’s design was destined to remain unbuilt except for the crypt, owing to rising costs and the impending war. The documentation of the model’s restoration represents a case study of photography’s almost magical ability to represent the miniature as a full-sized building, bringing the unrealized project to life. The photographs do not rely on sheye lenses or special equipment. Rather, the model is large enough to permit compelling straight shots through the crossing and down the nave. Were it not for the white plastic gures dotting the ground plane, one could easily imagine the cathedral as built. A combination of detail, the real patina of surfaces aged 75 years and the sightline of the photographs lend reality to the interior and exterior model views.
