Archinect - News

Notre Dame Cathedral completes spire reconstruction ahead of 2024 reopening

2023-12-11T17:30:00-05:00

France had previously reversed plans for the restoration’s completion before the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Summer Games prior to the death of project overseer General Jean-Louis Georgelin in August. The replacement of the original 19th-century spire was heavily debated before officials decided on a historically accurate timber and lead reconstruction, which was done without the adorning sculptural relics and a copper rooster figurine. Both outstanding elements are expected to be added later, along with contemporary stained glass windows.

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Now, with interior clean-ups and ceiling vault reconstructions also completed, an army of 500 will turn to exterior renovations and the installation of a new fire protection system and roof coverings.

As reported by the NYT, the collapse of Notre Dame's spire during the tragic fire deeply affected both Parisians on-site and a glob...

In a turnaround, French officials say Notre Dame’s restoration will not be ready in time for the Olympics

2023-03-06T17:38:00-05:00

Notre-Dame Cathedral's spire will be back in place by the end of the year, but a full reopening following the devastating fire of 2019 will not happen before next year's Paris Olympic Games. The reconstruction is still on track for completion by the end of 2024, the culture ministry told AFP. But the sharp spire, added by architect Eugene Viollet-Le-Duc during the cathedral's redesign in the 19th century, will be back in place by the end of 2023, the ministry said.

This setback constitutes a major blow to French President Emmanuel Macron’s lofty initial promise to have the restoration work completed in time for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Summer Games. Spectators had called into question whether or not the goal was feasible or even salutary from the beginning, particularly because of the water retained in the vaulted ceilings and other structural issues related to the composition of the stone.

Previously on Archinect: France’s Culture Ministry says Notre Dame is still on track to reopen in time for the 2024 Paris Olympics

The spire itself was the subject of a debate within the country. Prime Minister Édouard Philippe’s preference for a new version that was “adapted to the techniques and the challenges of our era” eventually got scrapped in favor of a more historically accurate construction made of timber and lead elements in line with the government’s mandate to restore Notre-Dame to its its “last known visual state.”

France 24 reported th...

Hundreds of ancient oaks needed to rebuild Notre Dame spire

2021-02-17T13:22:00-05:00

French experts are combing the country’s forests for centuries-old oaks to rebuild the Notre Dame spire that was destroyed by fire. [...] Last July, Macron announced the spire would be reconstructed exactly as it was. This is expected to require up to 1,000 oaks aged between 150 and 200 years old.

Rebuilding the fire-damaged Gothic cathedral hasn't been easy: construction crews were impacted by COVID-19 safety measures, and since French President Macron decided to ditch the modern spire and restore it to its "last known visual state" based on Eugène Viollet-le-Duc's 19th-century design, finding the right wood fit for a historic structure is a logistical challenge.

According to The Guardian, the oaks must be "straight, 50-90 cm (20-36 in) in diameter and between 8 and 14 metres tall. They must be chopped down by the end of March before the sap rises, otherwise the wood will be too humid. Before being cut into beams, the trunks will be allowed to dry for up to 18 months."

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...

Artist says Notre Dame spire competition has stalled

2020-05-06T14:59:00-04:00

The Belgian artist Wim Delvoye says that officials at Notre Dame cathedral, which was destroyed in a fire in April last year, have so far snubbed his proposal to rebuild the spire of the gutted medieval landmark. “The longer the French wait to decide—or to start a competition—the more they will need to rely on my technique and design [involving] laser-cut Corten steel,” he says. “They are going to discuss [the spire design] for ten years.”

According to The Art Newspaper, the National Commission for Architecture and Heritage is due to give its recommendations relating to the spire to the Ministry of Culture later this year and a decision on the final design is expected to come next year.

Late last month, the Notre Dame construction site reopened to allow a management team to plan the return of employees early this month. Beginning May 4th, around 50 construction workers were expected to have returned to work to continue the removal of the structure's scaffolding and to continue work that was halted due to the coronavirus shutdown.

New two-tower development at Chicago Spire site could dominate the city skyline

2018-05-16T14:05:00-04:00

The long-awaited vision for the 2.2-acre site along the Chicago River and Lake Michigan, unveiled in the first community meeting for the project, is toned down a bit from the 2,000-foot-tall Spire plan that stirred emotions but never advanced beyond a 76-foot-deep foundation hole. The design, by One World Trade Center architect David Childs, includes a south tower rising 1,100 feet and an 850-foot north tower.

Ever since work on Santiago Calatrava's 2,000-foot-tall Chicago Spire came to a halt in 2008 due to financial troubles, the city was left with a gaping hole in the ground rather than the nation's tallest building.

Rendering: Related Midwest.

A new proposal by Related Midwest for a pair of towers at 400 Lake Shore Drive, designed by architect David Childs with Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, could rehabilitate the site.

FXFOWLE proposes attaching 300-foot spire to skyscraper to become Hudson Yards' tallest

2017-08-10T12:47:00-04:00

Hudson Yards has been making headlines in recent months...But immediately to the northwest, another tower that’s been in the making for an equally long period of time may have just received a boost to become the tallest of them all. A new rendering of the Moinian Group’s 3 Hudson Boulevard has surfaced, showing both an updated design for the building itself, as well as the addition of a 300-foot spire, that would make the supertall the tallest in the neighborhood.

Despite years of vigorous effort in the Hudson Yards, the Related Companies may not have the tallest skyscraper of them all, thanks to FXFOWLE's proposed spire-tastic tower on 3 Hudson Boulevard. Nothing's final as of yet, but as YIMBY notes, "Back in 2012, YIMBY heard speculation that the tower, previously dubbed The Girasole, could rise as tall as 432 Park Avenue. While 1,350 feet isn’t quite 1,397 feet, the new height would certainly rival the supertalls of 57th Street, ranking in between 30 Hudson Yards’ approximately 1,300-foot parapet, and 432 Park Avenue, as the city’s fifth tallest building measured by pinnacle."

Chicago Spire's gaping hole to be hidden behind piles of dirt

2016-03-28T14:02:00-04:00

It was supposed to be a strutting 150-story lakefront symbol of the city's virility — but eight years after construction of the Chicago Spire skyscraper ground to a halt, the gaping hole where it was to have stood has instead become an enduring reminder of the Great Recession. So owner Related Midwest is now hiding the unsightly circular hole that would have formed the foundation of the world's second-tallest building behind a pile of dirt.

The Calatrava-designed Chicago Spire project previously in the Archinect news:

Looks Like Calatrava Won't Get Paid for His Chicago Spire Work

2014-11-25T14:26:00-05:00

Back in 2008, architect Santiago Calatrava placed an $11.34M lien on the Chicago Spire in the hope of being paid for his work on the project, which officially died in November, having never amounted to anything more than a hole in the ground. Now, Crain's Chicago reports that Calatrava may have missed the two-year window he had to file a lawsuit to enforce his claim.

Previously: Legal Troubles Dog Famed Spanish Architect Santiago Calatrava and Chicago Spire developer wants to resume project

Chicago Spire developer wants to resume project

2014-02-07T17:52:00-05:00

The Irish developer behind the Chicago Spire said it has found an investor to pay its creditors, allowing it to emerge from bankruptcy and possibly restart work on the long-stalled residential project.

Vanity Height: the Use-less Space in Today’s Tallest

2013-09-06T12:49:00-04:00

We noticed in Journal 2013 Issue I’s case study on Kingdom Tower, Jeddah, that a fair amount of the top of the building seemed to be an unoccupied spire. This prompted us to investigate the increasing trend towards extreme spires and other extensions of tall buildings that do not enclose usable space, and create a new term to describe this – Vanity Height, i.e., the distance between a skyscraper’s highest occupiable floor and its architectural top, as determined by CTBUH Height Criteria.

Watch The Spire Travel to the Top of One World Trade Center

2013-05-02T17:20:00-04:00

After traveling from Newark to New York City via barge in December and waiting a while for clear weather, the spire finally made its way to the top of One World Trade Center this morning. The project isn't quite finished—sections 17 and 18 of the spire were raised to a temporary work platform and will be installed by ironworkers later—but Curbed video editor David Sherwin headed downtown this morning to watch the spire's hoisting. Take a look.

Chicago Spire developer in talks with AFL-CIO for funding

2009-03-25T11:03:00-04:00

AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trusts, a "deep-pocketed pension fund", may help finance the stalled Calatrava-designed Chicago Spire. AFL-CIO's interest is 5 years of 100% union jobs. ChiTrib