Liverpool: Cathedral model exhibited [Lutyens]

something concrete survives of Lutyens' vision: as well as the 
architect's drawings and watercolours depicting the cathedral as it 
might have been, there is the giant timber and plaster model Lutyens 
commissioned from model-makers JB Thorp. This caused jaws to drop when 
put on display at the Royal Academy of Arts in London, in 1934, and at 
St George's Hall, Liverpool, the following year - but it has led a 
secret life since. Now, thanks to Chris Moseley of Liverpool's National 
Conservation Centre, it has been brought back to life. It has taken a 
team of 10 people no fewer than 13 years to restore the model at a cost 
of £500,000 (£268,000 came from the Heritage Lottery Fund). A lot of 
money, but, from the end of this month, the nation will be able to judge 
for itself if it has been well spent, when the restored model goes on 
show at Liverpool's Walker Art Gallery.

Comprising thousands of individual components, including cast-tin 
statues of saints, the model could be split into five sections for easy 
transport; at the Walker, it will be divided in two, so visitors can 
walk into the centre of the cathedral, as it were, and look east and 
west through the interior from under the dome. The scale of the model is 
unlikely to disappoint: it is 17ft long, 11ft 9in wide and 12ft 6in 
high; people can stand inside, and revel in the grandeur and brilliance 
of its design. It was also built as a way of fund-raising for the cathedral.

"This is one of the largest, most elaborate architectural models ever 
made," says Julian Treuherz, curator of the exhibition. "It gives a 
vivid idea of what the cathedral would have looked like, towering over 
the city's skyline. It would have taken two centuries to complete, like 
the medieval cathedrals. We are fortunate that, at least, we still have 
the model of what would have been Lutyens' supreme creation."

cont'd....
http://arts.guardian.co.uk/art/architecture/story/0,,1997949,00.html

exhibit site: 
http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/walker/exhibitions/cathedral/index.asp