It is too early to say if Notre-Dame de Paris is saved and no choice has yet been made for the reconstruction of the frame and the spire, said Sunday General Jean-Louis Georgelin, responsible for piloting the restoration of the cathedral ravaged by fire in April.
"Notre-Dame is not saved", "she is still in a state of danger", recalled the general during an interview with CNEWS / Europe 1 / Les Echos , confirming his remarks in November. "Today, what we cannot comment on is the state of the vault, we must go and inspect it," explained Jean-Louis Georgelin, who said, however, "fairly confident" .
The start of reconstruction not before 2021
The next planned operation is the dismantling of the scaffolding installed around the cathedral before the April 15 fire, which must be removed because it poses a threat to the building.
Subsequently, a complete diagnosis will allow the architects to recommend how to restore the cathedral. Once the tenders are concluded, the start of the actual reconstruction will take place in 2021. President Emmanuel Macron said he hoped that the reconstruction would be completed in 2024, a deadline considered tight by some.
Identical reconstruction?
The question of the architectural project remains totally open, according to General Georgelin: identically, as desired by the architect in charge of Notre-Dame himself, Philippe Villeneuve, or by subjecting it to a bold architectural gesture, like the spoke of the executive.
The fire that ravaged Notre-Dame de Paris, a masterpiece of Gothic art built from the 12th to the 14th century, destroyed its frame and the spire, the work of the architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc in the 19th century century.
"A review of all possible options"
"We will, for the arrow, define in the coming weeks the precise process that will allow to make the consultation that has been announced," said General Georgelin. "This will lead us in the course of 2020."
"To rebuild the spire, first the frame has to be done, the roof has been redone," he said. For the choice of the material for the reconstruction of the frame, "it is a process, the same, there will be study, examination of all the possible options", he said, denying press reports affirming that the choice had been stopped from an identical wooden repair.
Composed of a tangle of massive oak beams, several times renovated since the 12th century, the frame of Notre-Dame was one of the oldest in the city and was nicknamed the "forest".
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- Paris
- Restoration
- Monument
- Notre Dame of Paris
- Fire of Notre-Dame de Paris