In the aftermath of the fire that ravaged Paris’s Notre Dame cathedral, work has started on protecting and restoring the building—and a slew of architects and designers have taken off with proposals to replace the roof and spire, with varying degrees of reverence for the historic building.
The first steps, aside from the experts surveying and assessing the damage included covering the gaping hole left by the collapse of the central spire and most of the roof. The white weatherproof tarp, meant to prevent further damage by rain, was installed by a team of riggers and professional mountain climbers.
The call by the French government for architectural proposals comes against a background of debate whether the building should be restored “as it was,” with a new timber roof or whether fireproof materials should be used, and debates over what “as it was” means for a cathedral that has seen several major alterations over 850 years, including the 1860-era work by Viollet-le-Duc. The spire that was destroyed was added by him where none had been for a couple of hundred years, and was controversial when built.
But that controversy was nothing like what would follow some of the wilder new designs (some can be seen HERE). They include proposals for an all-crystal roof, for a greenhouse-like roof garden, for a spire of light and even a spire that would resemble the flames that destroyed the old one.
