France’s Prime Minister Edouard Philippe has announced an international architects’ competition to rebuild, and perhaps refashion, the fallen spire of Notre Dame cathedral.
How to rebuild a Gothic masterpiece like Notre Dame, by people who have done it before
“Or if, as is often the case in the evolution of heritage, we should endow Notre Dame with a new spire.”
The spire a few days before the blaze, on April 11, 2019. Credit: BERTRAND GUAY/AFP/AFP/Getty Images
Macron, in a televised address to the nation on Tuesday, said that he wants the cathedral to be rebuilt in 5 years and that it should be “even more beautiful.”
Restoration expert Frédéric Létoffé, the head of the group of companies for the Restoration of Historic Monuments, said at a news conference also on Tuesday that he thinks it will take longer, at around “10 to 15 years.”