Rebuilding Notre Dame Cathedral

[Joel H.]

I wonder who will be in charge of the reconstruction; the French Government? The Vatican? 

Hank, I wondered what the Vatican's involvement would be too.  It looks like it's completely in the French's hands.  I would think the Vatican may be able to replace (not necessarily with the same) artwork.  

Like everyone else, I'm very interested in the reconstruction methods.  I do hope someone (maybe the Smithsonian as suggested or French Gov't) does keep documentary video of it. I'm doubting the 5 year goal the French President said - but hey, they're closer to it then me.
 
I saw it last October and am extremely happy to have had the opportunity before this happened.

Joel

[mvflaim]

There was a fire in my neck of the woods of an old General Store in Rabbit Hash, KY. After the fire, they rebuilt the store using old techniques and couldn't use any new material technology or they would lose their historic building landmark so, my bet is they rebuild Norte Dame the way it was originally built.

[ianab]

While it would be nice to see it rebuilt the same, I don't think sufficient Oak trees exist, without hacking down a couple of Nationally Significant forests, which are considered treasures in their their own right. There is likely enough Kauri trees in NZ to do it, but good luck cutting even ONE down. 

Next is the fact the destroyed roof isn't actually visible from the inside... What was there must have been pretty darn cool, but from the ground level, hidden. 

AND, buildings like that have been added on to, modified and rebuilt over the years, using whatever construction techniques they had at the time. 

We have the remains of a small cathedral crumbling away in Christchurch city after the big quake they had part way  demolished it. They are still arguing over how to rebuild it. Some want it put back exactly the way it was, which I think is stupid, as it will collapse in exactly the same way in the next quake. Others want to rebuild a modern building...

Or rebuild a modern framework, and replicate the original stonework on the outside? Personally I think that's the more sensible choice. Looks similar, but will survive the next quake. 

Not saying they should build an aircraft hanger on top of the church, but this gives an idea of the technology that wooden buildings are developing now.
Air New Zealand to build world's largest single arch timber aircraft hangar

Let some good architects loose with that sort of construction method, and they should be able to have an appropriate looking roof back on the place in a few years.

[jteneyck]

Some hybrid approach will likely be how it ends up being rebuilt, Ian, as you suggested.  But it won't be for lack of trees.  There are plenty of large trees around the world, even oak trees.  Maybe not French white oak, but plenty enough large oaks for one cathedral.  And before embracing steel, iron, or laminated beams, think about how those materials behave in a fire.  Steel and iron sag, that's why there are fire protection products mandated for construction of any large building, and glues creep or degrade. But big wooden beams last a long time in a fire.  


I suspect whichever materials and methods are used to rebuild, a very well thought out fire detection and suppression system will be part of package.  If people make good on their pledges you should be able to do about anything with $1B.  

John

[Dan Moening]

Interestingly enough a video game company known as Ubisoft has some of the most detailed 3D laser scans of Notre Dame Cathedral.
It is due to the realism that they wanted in their game "Assassin's Creed Unity". They are donating $500+ million to the reconstruction.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQQ7DHbMI2I


Another noted 3D scan was performed by Andrew Tallon:
https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015...al-gothic/


BTW OP ... I found your screen-name and comment below rather humorous, despite the unintended misspelling.

Thank heaven that the surrounding stone structure remains intact, and that the fire didn't get any father! 

[Admiral]

Interestingly enough a video game company known as Ubisoft has some of the most detailed 3D laser scans of Notre Dame Cathedral.
It is due to the realism that they wanted in their game "Assassin's Creed Unity". They are donating $500+ million to the reconstruction.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQQ7DHbMI2I


Another noted 3D scan was performed by Andrew Tallon:
https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015...al-gothic/


BTW OP ... I found your screen-name and comment below rather humorous, despite the unintended misspelling.

Uh, the donation is 500k Euro, about $560,000, a nice thing to do.  I'm a small shareholder, $500M would be about 7% of their entire market cap!  Until i checked out the size, your post made me think about running to sell my 200 shares... 

[Dan Moening]

*... the donation is 500k Euro, about $560,000 ...*

Right you are ... I was still on my first cup of coffee.

[hbmcc]

How long did it take to rebuild NYC "Twin Towers"?  I hope this one gets a temporary cover really soon!

[stav]

For the parts that won't be seen, I would say they should let the modern builders leave their mark on it just as each group that has done work on it in the past has done.  Besides that, I think making it as fire resistant as possible would be a big bonus so that the building can continue to stand for many more generations.

[Stwood_]

I'd say put a steel structure up there for the roof supports, and come up with something that would mimic the lead plated roof. Something that will be there for a few hundred more years. Steel panels that are pressed, designed to have a rough texture like the lead did.
Why worry about wooden beams that are more than likely not available.
No wood, no more roof fires.