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France Will Rebuild Notre Dame's Spire as It Was, Scrapping Plans for Contemporary Design
Art World
France Will Rebuild Notre Dames Spire as It Was, Scrapping Plans to Top the Fire-Ravaged Cathedral With a Contemporary Design
President Emmanuel Macron has abandoned the idea of holding an international competition to design a new spire.
Sarah Cascone, July 13, 2020
After months of debate, France has decided to stick to tradition in reconstructing Pariss Notre Dame Cathedral, rather than replacing the 19th-century spire with a contemporary design.
Designed by French architect Eugene Viollet-le-Duc, the spire collapsed in the April 2019 blaze that tore through the churchs wooden attic. Wrongly identified as a false alarm, the fire raged unchecked for close to a half hour before firefighters were called to the scene.
By that time, the wooden timbers of The Forest, as the attic was sometimes called, were almost beyond saving. Firefighters focused much of their energies on salvaging the cathedrals Gothic belfry towers from collapse. As they fought to combat the flames, the 800-ton, 305-foot-tall lead-coated spire crashed through the vaulted stone ceiling, tumbling to the cathedral floor.
Extinguishing the conflagration took nine hours.
{snip}
France Will Rebuild Notre Dames Spire as It Was, Scrapping Plans to Top the Fire-Ravaged Cathedral With a Contemporary Design
President Emmanuel Macron has abandoned the idea of holding an international competition to design a new spire.
Sarah Cascone, July 13, 2020
After months of debate, France has decided to stick to tradition in reconstructing Pariss Notre Dame Cathedral, rather than replacing the 19th-century spire with a contemporary design.
Designed by French architect Eugene Viollet-le-Duc, the spire collapsed in the April 2019 blaze that tore through the churchs wooden attic. Wrongly identified as a false alarm, the fire raged unchecked for close to a half hour before firefighters were called to the scene.
By that time, the wooden timbers of The Forest, as the attic was sometimes called, were almost beyond saving. Firefighters focused much of their energies on salvaging the cathedrals Gothic belfry towers from collapse. As they fought to combat the flames, the 800-ton, 305-foot-tall lead-coated spire crashed through the vaulted stone ceiling, tumbling to the cathedral floor.
Extinguishing the conflagration took nine hours.
{snip}
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France Will Rebuild Notre Dame's Spire as It Was, Scrapping Plans for Contemporary Design (Original Post)
mahatmakanejeeves
Jul 2020
OP
MyOwnPeace
(16,917 posts)1. It's easy to forget
other things going on in our world these days - thanks for the update!!
secondwind
(16,903 posts)2. Very happy to know this. Thank you!
brush
(53,733 posts)3. Yes, why in the world did they even consider a new spire design...
for such an historic, architectural treasure. IMO it should be rebuilt as close to the original as possible, using modern construction methods and materials underlying the reconstructed, outward exterior appearanceno wooden, hard-to-access "forest" construction in the attic of the cathedral to catch fire again in the future.
ChazII
(6,200 posts)4. Well said! n/t
appalachiablue
(41,102 posts)5. Good decision Macron, merci.
Devil Child
(2,728 posts)6. Excellent decision n/t
A Clear n Present D
(32 posts)7. Good to Hear
Sometimes, going with tradition is the right thing to do. Sometimes!