(Paris) Exit the “contemporary architectural gesture” envisaged for a time to reconstruct Notre-Dame de Paris: 15 months after the fire that ravaged the cathedral and moved the whole world, President Macron finally opted to rebuild the Gothic jewel identically.
Published on 10 July 2020 at 6 a.m. 27
Laurence BENHAMOU
France Media Agency
He “acquired the conviction” that the cathedral must be restored to its original state, said the Elysée on Thursday evening, after a meeting of the National Commission for Heritage and Architecture (CNPA), bringing together elected officials, experts and architects of the site.
“The president trusted the experts and pre-approved the main lines of the project presented by the chief architect [Philippe Villeneuve], which plans to reconstruct the spire identically,” said the Elysee Palace.
This project generally proposes a restoration of the cathedral and its spire in the manner closest to its state just before the fire that occurred on the evening of 15 April 2019.
“I am happy that the French, pilgrims and visitors from around the world can find the cathedral they love,” General Georgelin, appointed to supervise the site, responded on Thursday evening in a statement.
“Today, an important step has been taken,” he said. All the conditions are now in place to allow us to move forward with confidence and determination to actively prepare the restoration operations. ”
To everyone's surprise, the head of state had mentioned, shortly after the fire, the possibility of “a contemporary architectural gesture” to rebuild the cathedral, stimulating the imagination of many great architects. Some had proposed a glass spire, the creation on the roof of an organic garden park or a panoramic terrace …
PHOTO CHRISTOPHE ENA, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
President Emmanuel Macron
Pass of arms
The architect Philippe Villeneuve has always pleaded loyalty to the retouched work in the Gothic style by Viollet-le-Duc in the XIX e century, of which all the plans are preserved. And to argue that such an option makes it possible to better meet the deadlines of a reconstruction in five years, as wanted by President Macron.
A clear-cut opinion which gave rise to an unusual fine gun pass 2019 with General Georgelin: the latter had asked the chief architect to “close his mouth”, after taking a stand against a contemporary arrow.
Thursday, Mr. Villeneuve presented a file 3000 pages to review the terms he recommends to restore the framework, the roof and the spire of the cathedral, the most thorny subjects having provoked a quarrel between old and modern.
At the end of this meeting, which lasted four hours, the CNPA “unanimously approved the proposed restoration party consisting in restoring the architecture of Viollet-le-Duc, with regard to the covering and the arrow while respecting the original materials, ”Jean-Pierre Leleux, senator at the head of this commission, told AFP.
Concerning the frame, on which there was debate, an upcoming study will specify exactly the contours of its reconstruction which will be made of wood.
Before reaching this decision, all scenarios were considered, he said, including leaving the cathedral in its current state.
Ephemeral structure
“The concern for the president was not to delay the site nor to make the file more complex. Things had to be clarified quickly, “said the Elysée.
“If we had to make a contemporary boom, we needed a specific competition, hence the potential delay of the site. Consultations with great architects led to the conclusion that this challenge of the contemporary spire was very complicated and that a contemporary gesture could be imagined otherwise, “argued the Presidency.
The Élysée thus wishes to work with the City of Paris for the redevelopment of the surroundings of the monument. “If there is a contemporary gesture, it can be there”, according to the presidency, which also recalls the project of an ephemeral structure, a “construction site house” which could be installed in the courtyard of the Hôtel-Dieu , near the cathedral.
Postponed due to confinement, the delicate dismantling of the scaffolding that surrounds Notre-Dame, deformed and welded by the heat of the fire, will be completed “at the latest in late September”, assured General Georgelin for a week. This dismantling conditions the possibility of starting the actual restoration of Notre-Dame.
The president is still planning a reconstruction in five years with a reopening in 2024.
