1/4”=1’ (1:50) scale Ave Maria Oratory model was constructed of aircraft grade model plywood, basswood, and museum board. Primary structure components were laser-cut to ensure precision and consistency in model assembly.
The Oratory’s structural steel buttresses, which recall the stone buttressing of the great historic cathedrals of Europe, rise from the stone plinth and pierce through to the interior. The buttressing is the exterior expression of the interior structural steel lattice supporting the Oratory, the dominant element within the nave.
