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. — France 24

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. — The Guardian

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. — The New York Times

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.” — The Art Newspaper

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. — Chicago Tribune

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. — New York Yimby

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. — chicagotribune.com

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. — curbed.com

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. — chicagotribune.com

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. — CTBUH

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. — Curbed NY