Notre-Dame spire reconstruction: "We have no right to be in a hurry"

Marie-Amélie Tek is a heritage architect in Paris. She is the author of Notre-Dame à Coeur Ouvert (Téki editions).

The Élysée has given the green light for an identical reconstruction of the Viollet-le-Duc spire, is this good news? Did this announcement seem unexpected to you?

This is good news for Notre-Dame de Paris and heritage. In all likelihood, this announcement was rather expected. Considering the heritage code, the Venice Charter and our experience acquired for almost 170 years at the bedside of historic monuments, I think it could not be otherwise. If the exact contours of this reconstruction undoubtedly remain to be defined, the framework is now laid. I am delighted with this decision of humility and accuracy in the service of a collective masterpiece, of a total art kneaded by the anonymous hands of the artisans of genius from the Middle Ages and centuries past. It is a beautiful signal for this period which sometimes has difficulty in silencing the egos to make room for reality, if not the truth. However, I am wondering about the nature of the “architectural gesture” that is predicted for the developments expected around the building.

Can this restoration be done within the period initially set by the Head of State?

In the aftermath of the fire, the Head of State actually spoke of a delay of 5 years.

As a heritage architect, I know that this deadline is short, too short even to do things well and conscientiously! The time of the architectural project is part of a slow process that deserves reflection and maturation; it also includes administrative deadlines linked to the processing of requests, and the award of contracts, etc. The time for diagnosis is long because first the shaken building must be examined, bandaged and consolidated before being able to receive its new covering and covering, not to mention the symbolic arrow at the cross of the transept. Also, I firmly believe that we have no right to be in a hurry. On the contrary, I believe that the path is a chance to make a collective work that will be the best illustration of Art and matter in the service of the crazy splendor of the painted and sculpted repertoire of the Middle Ages. Take the time for the transmission of gestures and the freedom of Art. For Notre-Dame de Paris, cathedral of the world where centuries and souls are crowded, let us offer to work for humanity! Is there a more beautiful design?

So in 5 years perhaps, the cathedral will be able to welcome the public and the faithful in complete safety, while the building site will continue up there in the hangers and, that around the building, the crowd will crowd to admire the construction site of the century and the march of men.

Could we also reconstruct the frame identically?

Of course. I also express the wish that the frame of Notre-Dame be rebuilt in wood according to the traditional methods of the 13th century. I hope that our generation will have the audacity to prefer man to machine and that the Gothic frame will be born from the hands and the tools of 21st century carpenters, sublime testimony of a body to body between man and the living matter of our oak forests. In this, the experiment carried out by the Charpentiers sans frontières association proved on July 7 that it was possible to build a frame farm by hand with only 9 oak trees, a team of 25 professional carpenters volunteers and in 5 barely days.

This experience, crucial for the XXIth century which continues to run after an invincible progress, comes to account for the genius of the builders of the Middle Ages by attesting to an economy of total means, the flawless rationalization of the site as well as a indisputable speed of execution. I hope that the reconstruction of Notre-Dame de Paris will be the opportunity of a path in search of meaning and beauty at the same time. This site will have to make room for man. The innovation is there today!

You write in your book Our Lady with an open heart that "The most beautiful works of men remain earthly buildings", what do you mean by that?

The buildings remain terrestrial because gravity camps us there, almost excruciatingly! But they are also terrestrial because they are a mixture of blood, mud and the landing of centuries. I believe that the works are beautiful when they testify to the search for elevation to deliverance and thus reveal all the finitude of man in the fight he tirelessly fights with matter. For example, the arrow is secured to the ship, but we must admit that it seeks to overtake the clouds. It is not nothing to soar towards the sky. The building that seeks to tear itself from the earth is beautiful. Architecture, the work of men, is of the finished, the habit, the shelter and the building, in the infinite, in pursuit of eternity.

Also read: Mathieu Bock-Côté: "Notre-Dame de Paris, a year later"

The walls of Notre Dame remember a whole juxtaposition of historical images: the crown of thorns greeted by Saint Louis, the Vow of Louis XIII, the dethroned Kings of the Temple of Reason, the Coronation of Napoleon ... What can feel a heritage architect participating in the restoration of a place so steeped in history?

The architect who takes part in the restoration of the heritage feels first of all very small in front of this immense thing which exceeds him and which he must strive to understand and dissect. Then he must take a little shelter from his emotions to intervene with sensitivity, precision and correctness on the building bequeathed by centuries and a thousand souls.

The heritage architect must first position himself as an heir, a ferryman. Humility is his mark. He is not there to impose his style or his signature since the masterpiece is already there and he did not wait for it to exist. He must simply endeavor to make legible the work of the past by depositing his thoughts on the threshold of the building. And when the bet is won, the site is delivered, nothing prevents him from feeling a lot of pride. Because it is not simple to know how to transmit, with care and conscience, the wishes of the past in which melted, in the molten matter and in the same crucible, those of the present which assail us.