6 ms·

Rebuilding Notre Dame Cathedral

WJW 5y ago
I like the measured pace they are taking with this. The cathedral has existed for centuries and will exist for centuries more. No need to rush and get it done in a few sprints or something like that.
- Ancapistani 5y ago
  Building a cathedral is not like building a bazaar!
MR4D 5y ago
I hope all this information from the research gets captured digitally and shared openly as part of the effort. It would be fantastic to have that available to all for research or even just hobbyist reading.
- Bayart 5y ago
  There's a digital workgroup as part of the scientific project, with a centralized system that's described here : https://www.notre-dame.science/plateforme-de-centralisation-des-donnees/ https://www.notre-dame.science/plateforme-de-centralisation-... As far as I know, the data's only accessible to researchers.
  - MR4D 5y ago
    I don’t read French, so I can’t make out everything on the website, but my thinking was more along the lines of a Data.gov or other open data site where the data is freely available, along with a wiki for researchers that is public, perhaps like lkml. Also, multi-language is a must. The cathedral is not just a national treasure, it’s a historical site treasured by the world. It’s data should be as well. This could support research for decades into the future.
    - Bayart 5y ago
      The data infrastructure for this is Huma-Num [1][2], a project for humanities research institutions in France as part of a European network of similar initiatives. It's got an open data aspect to it but I'm not familiar with the endpoints. As far as internationalization goes, frankly I couldn't care less. Call me a brute, but I don't see why we French taxpayers should bankroll research in English. It's certainly impossible to be a decent Medievalist if all you know is modern English, albeit this project also involves technical disciplines like imagery, acoustics etc. [1]: https://www.huma-num.fr https://www.huma-num.fr [2]: https://documentation.huma-num.fr https://documentation.huma-num.fr
      - MR4D 5y ago
        French taxpayers shouldn’t. Since there are tons of donations from outside of France, that can pay for these portion. EDIT: Donations reference - https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/aug/08/notre-dame-paris-why-have-americans-given-so-much-money-to-restore https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/aug/08/notre-d...
rootusrootus 5y ago
Is the goal to be as faithful as possible to some earlier building techniques, or are they going to strategically employ some modern techniques during the rebuild? It seems like that would totally be in keeping with the history of the cathedral, right?
- Ericson2314 5y ago
  Modern winches in scaffolding maybe? But certainly "no" to any reinforced concrete! (Though neat the iron staples didn't cause the same problems that rebar does!) Gothic cathedrals are, as far as I can tell, quite shockingly modern-like in their nature of being so delicately balanced. I think we would learn more from trying to do as historically-informed repairs as possible. Even though, yes, old buildings tend to be quite the hodgepodge of styles and methods.
- wahern 5y ago
  They're going modern in a pretty big way: https://www.archpaper.com/2021/11/plans-for-a-modern-interior-at-notre-dame-cathedral-invokes-the-ire-of-traditionalists/ https://www.archpaper.com/2021/11/plans-for-a-modern-interio...
JetAlone 5y ago
According to other comments and articles, it looks like Notre Dame will remain Quasi Modo until about 2024.
- kingcharles 5y ago
  Your Latin is suspect. I think you are missing a word - quasi modo is a sentence fragment ;)
  - grogenaut 5y ago
    Quasi Modo is the eponymous character of The Hunchback of Notre Dame
    - JetAlone 5y ago
      This is true, but King Charles was still right to declare the latin is sus.
    - kingcharles 5y ago
      Yes, that was the poster's joke. He separated out the name Quasimodo into its Latin words. Whoooosh.
mmmBacon 5y ago
There were some very interesting concepts of how to rebuild the cathedral. I gained appreciation for them by realizing that the destroyed spire had been added relatively recently. I think it would have been amazing to choose one of the structural glass roofs that were proposed.
- kingcharles 5y ago
  I was totally bummed that they didn't decide to go in a new direction, given the unique opportunity. Look how impressive the Louvre pyramid is.

WJW 5y ago

I like the measured pace they are taking with this. The cathedral has existed for centuries and will exist for centuries more. No need to rush and get it done in a few sprints or something like that.

Ancapistani 5y ago
Building a cathedral is not like building a bazaar!

MR4D 5y ago

I hope all this information from the research gets captured digitally and shared openly as part of the effort. It would be fantastic to have that available to all for research or even just hobbyist reading.

Bayart 5y ago
There's a digital workgroup as part of the scientific project, with a centralized system that's described here : https://www.notre-dame.science/plateforme-de-centralisation-des-donnees/ https://www.notre-dame.science/plateforme-de-centralisation-... As far as I know, the data's only accessible to researchers.
- MR4D 5y ago
  I don’t read French, so I can’t make out everything on the website, but my thinking was more along the lines of a Data.gov or other open data site where the data is freely available, along with a wiki for researchers that is public, perhaps like lkml. Also, multi-language is a must. The cathedral is not just a national treasure, it’s a historical site treasured by the world. It’s data should be as well. This could support research for decades into the future.
  - Bayart 5y ago
    The data infrastructure for this is Huma-Num [1][2], a project for humanities research institutions in France as part of a European network of similar initiatives. It's got an open data aspect to it but I'm not familiar with the endpoints. As far as internationalization goes, frankly I couldn't care less. Call me a brute, but I don't see why we French taxpayers should bankroll research in English. It's certainly impossible to be a decent Medievalist if all you know is modern English, albeit this project also involves technical disciplines like imagery, acoustics etc. [1]: https://www.huma-num.fr https://www.huma-num.fr [2]: https://documentation.huma-num.fr https://documentation.huma-num.fr
    - MR4D 5y ago
      French taxpayers shouldn’t. Since there are tons of donations from outside of France, that can pay for these portion. EDIT: Donations reference - https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/aug/08/notre-dame-paris-why-have-americans-given-so-much-money-to-restore https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/aug/08/notre-d...

rootusrootus 5y ago

Is the goal to be as faithful as possible to some earlier building techniques, or are they going to strategically employ some modern techniques during the rebuild? It seems like that would totally be in keeping with the history of the cathedral, right?

Ericson2314 5y ago
Modern winches in scaffolding maybe? But certainly "no" to any reinforced concrete! (Though neat the iron staples didn't cause the same problems that rebar does!) Gothic cathedrals are, as far as I can tell, quite shockingly modern-like in their nature of being so delicately balanced. I think we would learn more from trying to do as historically-informed repairs as possible. Even though, yes, old buildings tend to be quite the hodgepodge of styles and methods.
wahern 5y ago
They're going modern in a pretty big way: https://www.archpaper.com/2021/11/plans-for-a-modern-interior-at-notre-dame-cathedral-invokes-the-ire-of-traditionalists/ https://www.archpaper.com/2021/11/plans-for-a-modern-interio...

JetAlone 5y ago

According to other comments and articles, it looks like Notre Dame will remain Quasi Modo until about 2024.

kingcharles 5y ago
Your Latin is suspect. I think you are missing a word - quasi modo is a sentence fragment ;)
- grogenaut 5y ago
  Quasi Modo is the eponymous character of The Hunchback of Notre Dame
  - JetAlone 5y ago
    This is true, but King Charles was still right to declare the latin is sus.
  - kingcharles 5y ago
    Yes, that was the poster's joke. He separated out the name Quasimodo into its Latin words. Whoooosh.

mmmBacon 5y ago

There were some very interesting concepts of how to rebuild the cathedral. I gained appreciation for them by realizing that the destroyed spire had been added relatively recently. I think it would have been amazing to choose one of the structural glass roofs that were proposed.

kingcharles 5y ago
I was totally bummed that they didn't decide to go in a new direction, given the unique opportunity. Look how impressive the Louvre pyramid is.