An
architecture firm has proposed replacing the roof of Notre Dame Cathedral with
a swimming pool, as France prepares to launch an international competition to restore the fire-damaged
gothic edifice to its former glory.
The ideas aired publicly so far will not please
traditionalists.
The French firm Studio NAB proposes a giant greenhouse
roof; others suggest a park or terrace or even forest along with a plain
or stained-glass or metal spire. The British architect Norman Foster says the new spire should be “contemporary and very spiritual.” Some say it should
not be rebuilt at all but given an ephemeral spire made of beams of light.
“We’re not
obliged to rebuild identically,” said architect Alexande Chassang, who has
designed a proposal for a glass spire.
Stockholm UMA Architects plan a cross-shaped pool covering the entire roof area, watched
over by the statues of the 12 apostles that escaped the inferno because they had
been removed for restoration.
“A
cathedral is in our opinion not an isolated island in the urban fabric; it
belongs to the city and to the people,” UMA added.
As Twitter
users had fun with their own, most often bizarre, ideas, heritage experts urged
caution.
Florian Renucci, a master mason at the experimental
medieval building site at Guédelon in Burgundy, believes Notre Dame should
be – and can be – restored as it was-
“The
restoration of Notre Dame should respect the techniques of the era
in which it was built, with respect for the overall gothic harmony and the materials they used,
stone, wood, iron and glass. We must respect the spirit of that work. The gothic period was a high point in architecture … if we do it
right it will last another 1,000 years”, Renucci said.
