French President Announces Competition to Rebuild Notre Dame’s spire
18/04/2019.
[PAR] France
metalocus, ÁNGEL TORNE
metalocus, ÁNGEL TORNE
France's Prime Minister Edouard Philippe has announced an international architects' competition to redesign the roofline of Notre Dame Cathedral after the Monday huge fire.
The 93m spire, with a structure made of wood and lead, which was added during a 19th-century renovation of the 850-year-old Paris cathedral, collapsed crashing into the nave, during the fire that destroyed this landmark.
The 93m spire, with a structure made of wood and lead, which was added during a 19th-century renovation of the 850-year-old Paris cathedral, collapsed crashing into the nave, during the fire that destroyed this landmark.
Notre Dame "may take a decade or two" to repair say experts
Image by Dan Kitwood for Getty Images.
Notre Dame fire. Image © Francois Guillot / AFP
Notre Dame fire. Ian Langsdon/EPA, via Shutterstock
Notre Dame Cathedral's flèche (spire) on fire on 15 April 2019 (A/CC BY 4.0)
Marga Abejo-Momper via Twitter
Firefighters carrying out safety checks on the cathedral. Photograph: Bastien Louvet/Sipa/Rex/Shutterstock
The Notre Dame “fleche” (the spire) in 2013 (C Juneau/CC BY 2.0)
Speaking after a cabinet meeting held by President Emmanuel Macron on reconstruction plans on the 850-year-old building, Édouard Philippe said that the competition "will allow us to ask the question of whether we should even recreate the spire as it was conceived by [architect Eugene] Viollet-le-Duc," or “a spire suited to the techniques and challenges of our time”.
He said an estimation of the cost of rebuilding the cathedral had yet to be made, its structure lost two-thirds of its roof in the fire. French billionaires, multinationals and private citizens have so far raised €880m for the restoration.
The building to remain closed to the public for five years, at least. Emmanuel Macron, in a televised address to the nation on Tuesday, said that he wants the cathedral to be rebuilt in 5 years and that it should be "even more beautiful."
Some restoration experts as Frédéric Létoffé, the head of the group of companies for the Restoration of Historic Monuments, said at a news conference also on Tuesday that according his opinion it will take longer, at around "10 to 15 years."
He said an estimation of the cost of rebuilding the cathedral had yet to be made, its structure lost two-thirds of its roof in the fire. French billionaires, multinationals and private citizens have so far raised €880m for the restoration.
The building to remain closed to the public for five years, at least. Emmanuel Macron, in a televised address to the nation on Tuesday, said that he wants the cathedral to be rebuilt in 5 years and that it should be "even more beautiful."
Some restoration experts as Frédéric Létoffé, the head of the group of companies for the Restoration of Historic Monuments, said at a news conference also on Tuesday that according his opinion it will take longer, at around "10 to 15 years."
