La Croix International reports that Japanese architect Shigeru Ban has proposed a temporary chapel to be used for gatherings and religious services in the forecourt of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris while the iconic structure is restored.
The cathedral burned in April 2019, and its future has been the subject of much speculation in the ensuing months as a series of outlandish and conflicting proposals and reconstruction efforts have taken shape.
While not formally approved, Ban's chapel would be made up of wood-wrapped recycled shipping containers and tall paper tubes tied together with wooden trusses and rope. Together, the elements would create a nave capable of holding dozens of people at at time.
The vision has not been without controversy, of course. Patrick Bouchain, a French designer who has helped other major cultural institutions like the Centre Pompidou and the Louvre museum during times of renovation and expansion, told La Croix, "Can such a space, which needs to instill calm and repose, be situated right next to a construction site? Will the square, which stands above the archaeological crypt, be able to take the weight of such a structure?"
In the past, Ban, the 2014 Pritzker Prize winner, has articulated similar structures, particularly in post-disaster contexts, as was the case in Japan following the 1995 Kobe earthquake. Though designed to be short-lived and temporary, a paper dome-topped chapel Ban created following that disaster stood for over 10 years and was relocated to Taiwan for continued use following a 2006 earthquake that took place there.
3 Comments
I kinda like this. Ban is awesome.
The structure looks pretty good. The site is a problem, though.
Looks flammable.
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