The president and Emmanuel Macron has expressed yesterday his desire to see the cathedral of paris rebuilt in the next five years. A time «quite tenable, to the extent where there is a good technological choice,» says architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte at the microphone of France Inter this morning. «We built the stadiums of 50,000 seats in two and a half years, and these are colossal constructions,» he continues. There is no reason that you can’t do it» to Notre-Dame de Paris.
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The five-year period «imposes the use of synthetic materials,» explains the architect, to the opposite of the desire of Stéphane Bern to restore faithfully to the building. «We will not be able to rebuild Notre-Dame with traditional systems,» says Jean-Michel Wilmotte. We are not going to cut down a forest, the dry and assemblies that are going to last 20-25 years.»
re-invent the structure of the cathedral
Creator of contemporary projects, such as the Russian orthodox cathedral of Paris, or the stadium Allianz Riviera of Nice, Jean-Michel Wilmotte, this does not encourage a mimicry history, and favours an evolution of the techniques with their time. «You don’t have to reuse the lead, which is a material very heavy, develops there. You don’t have to reuse the oak, knowing that the frame is at the top of an arch and that it will not be visible from the interior of the cathedral.»
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The architect predicted, and use of technological innovation and modern construction: «If the structure is metal, it will weigh two times less heavy than if it is wood», with the image of the cathedral of Metz, burned in 1877. An argument of weight, while the stone structure of Notre-Dame, responsible for the support of the roof, has been weakened by the fire. Jean-Michel Wilmotte is also considering a cover in titanium, although lighter than the lead of the old roof.
a Few rib vaults have collapsed after the fire at Our Lady, witnesses the weakening of the stone structure of the building. LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP
Jean-Michel Wilmotte considers that «heritage is alive and must evolve.» «What I like in architecture, it is the stratification of the epochs that overlap,» he says. This shows the air time every time, translated by the architecture.» Dominique Perrault, the designer of the site François Mitterrand the national Library of France and the nouvel hippodrome de Longchamp, is of the same opinion. In a press release, he explains that «each century, or almost, has left his imprint on the cathedral» monument that considered to be the «heart of the heart of Paris».
A reconstruction looking to the future
Burned down in 1877, the roof of the Metz cathedral was rebuilt in copper, green-shaded on the picture. The whole is supported by a structure in metal girders to the «Polonceau», «the same as at the station of the North», explains Jean-Michel Wilmotte. JEAN-CHRISTOPHE VERHAEGEN/AFP
The word order of the two architects seems to be the future. «This encourages us to réenvisager the relationship to our heritage and to believe in their capacity of resilience,» writes Dominique Perrault. For Jean-Michel Wilmotte, it would be «very interesting to keep in places the traces of this fire, so that he can go down in History as a fresco.» Then there is the question of the restitution of the arrow that will be, unlike the future frame, clearly visible to the public.
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Notre-Dame of Paris : an opportunity for the crafts ? – Look on Figaro Live
