The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine was built in its early stages based upon a design that accentuated Romanesque features of Cathedral Architecture. Romanesque and Gothic were the prevailing Cathedral styles.

Romanesque architecture includes the following elements: round, arched arcades that support wooden roofs or stone vaulting, and small windows amidst large stone walls. Each portion of the Cathedral, while connected to other parts of the church, remains its own unit (Cathedrals and Churches - Romanesque).

Gothic architecture possesses a more unified approach. The creation of buttresses, reinforcements situated on the roof of the structure, allowed Gothic cathedrals to be built much higher than their Romanesque predecessors. Moreover, the immense walls and slit windows were replaced by large caverns filled with stained glass depicting various religious scenes. The height reached by a Gothic cathedral became a status symbol for the town of its location. Thus, the construction of Gothic cathedrals (and to an extent, the Romanesque cathedrals) contained an element of competitive "one-upmanship" among various European communities during this time period (Cathedrals and Churches - Gothic ).