Heins and Lafarge

Heins & LaFarge was a New York-based architectural firm composed of the Philadelphia-born architect George Lewis Heins (1860–1907) and Christopher Grant LaFarge (1862–1938), the eldest son of the artist John La Farge. They were responsible for the original Romanesque-Byzantine east end and crossing of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, New York, and for the original Astor Court buildings of the Bronx Zoo, which formed a complete ensemble reflecting the aesthetic of the City Beautiful movement. Heins & LaFarge provided the architecture and details for the Interborough Rapid Transit Company, the first subway system of New York.

The two young men met at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and trained together in the Boston offices of Henry Hobson Richardson. Heins married LaFarge's aunt Aimée La Farge (youngest sister of John La Farge), who was only two years older than her nephew. In 1886, they opened their office. Heins was the man on the site; LaFarge was the principal designer.

In 1888, a design competition for the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, the most prominent project of its kind in the US, was entered by 68 architectural firms, and won in 1891 by Heins & LaFarge, with an eclectic design, based on Romanesque forms but with many Byzantine and Gothic elements, dominated by a massive spired tower over the crossing. The cornerstone was laid December 27, 1892, but unexpectedly, massive excavation was required before bedrock was hit. Heins & LaFarge completed the east end and the crossing, temporarily roofed by Rafael Guastavino with a tiled dome (still standing). The Chapel of St. Columba was consecrated in 1911, but the death of Heins ended the contract with Heins & LaFarge. Some of the Cathedral trustees did not care for the original Romaneque-Byzantine design, preferring something more purely Gothic, and consequently they removed the project from LaFarge, the surviving architect of the team. The hired a new architect Ralph Adams Cram, whose nave and west front would be continued in French Gothic style.

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