Notre-Dame cathedral: modern spire now off the table

2020-07-13T15:25:00-04:00

President Emmanuel Macron of France on Thursday dropped the unpopular idea of building a modern spire atop a restored Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris, a possibility he had floated after a devastating fire sent the previous spire crashing through the roof. [...] But the idea of a modern spire never caught on with critics or with public opinion, and Mr. Macron never committed to it.

French President Macron's decision to let go of his long-championed vision of a contemporary spire for the fire-damaged Gothic cathedral comes one year after the French senate passed a bill approving the government's restoration plan under the condition that Notre Dame be restored to its "last known visual state" — including the 19th-century spire design by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc.

Architectural proposals for contemporary spires and novel construction methods quickly emerged after the devastating April '19 blaze, including plans to 3D-print the lost spire with its ashes.

This won't close the lid on the controversies surrounding the rebuilding efforts though as other issues remain debated, including the choice of construction materials. "The conservative restoration means that timber and lead will be used for the framework and the roofing, foregoing the opportunity to use safer, more sophisticated m...

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Notre-Dame cathedral: modern spire now off the table