The Christchurch Anglican diocese has unveiled designs for the cardboard cathedral's stained-glass window.

The triangular window will comprise 49 panels and is designed to echo Christ Church Cathedral's rose window.

The temporary Anglican cathedral, which will seat 700, was designed by Japanese architect Shigeru Ban. It is expected to open in Latimer Square in February.

The rose window in the west wall of Christ Church Cathedral survived the February 2011 earthquake but collapsed in the June 2011 aftershocks.

Ban's colleague and project architect, Yoshie Narimatsu, said the 1.2-metre-tall triangular glass panels featured images from the rose window.

"We wanted some connection to the original cathedral," she said.

"Each image comes from the exact same position as on the original."

The triangular panels in the middle of the new stained-glass window use images from the centre circle of the rose window, while the remaining panels use images from the outside circle.

The images, taken from a high-resolution photograph of the original window, are printed onto the glass panels, which are then fired in a kiln.

Christ Church Cathedral development manager Craig Dixon said the new window design was a metaphor.

"It is fascinating that the design is a fractured image that has some powerful things to say about the state of the cathedral and the city at the moment," he said.

"These broken, fractured images come together in a new and visually beautiful way that shows the way ahead. We have the old and the new together."

- © Fairfax NZ News

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