ADVERTISEMENT

On April 15, 2019, one of the most horrific fires of the year broke out when the roof of the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris went up in flames. The inferno lasted for around 15 hours as the world watched in terror. The fire completely destroyed the famous landmarks' iconic spire that collapsed hours after the fire was initially noticed. Most of the wood/metal roof of the gothic architecture cathedral was also destroyed, with only about one-third of the roof remaining. The interior of the cathedral didn't suffer extensive damage thanks to the stone-vaulted ceiling that largely contained the burning roof as it collapsed.

In the following days, French President Emmanuel Macron reassured the public that the historic building could be restored and a fundraising campaign was quickly initiated to help fund the restoration (that could take up to 20 years or more). As of April 22, 2019, over €1 billion was collected.

On April 17, France announced their plans to host a competition to design a replacement spire for the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris. French prime minister Edouard Philippe was reported saying that the government was looking for a unique design "adapted to the techniques and the challenges of our era." This prompted many architects and designers to power up their creative minds and conjure new images of the roof and the spire. From contemporary glass towers to Gothic stained glass windows, the entries so far offer a fresh reimagination of the classic tourist attraction. Scroll down below to see the cool designs and don't forget to comment and vote for your favorites!

#1

New Spire Designs

ejezeta.cl Report

Add photo comments
POST
houseofatreus2000 avatar
Rob Chapman
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Well, this is the only one on this list that does't look absolutely horrible. But still...

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#2

13 Architects Suggest Notre Dame Cathedral Reconstruction Designs

Architect Vincent Callebaut's vision draws the ideas of science, art, and spirituality together. The architect suggests uniting the cathedral’s nave, roof, and new spire in a project he titled ‘Palingenesis’, derived from the greek word for ‘rebirth’. It features a garden underneath a three-dimensional crystal glass canopy."transparency, sharing, and openness to our society’s development: such are the ideas conveyed by this new, diaphanous forest of notre dame, outlining the new face of the church in the 21st century," Callebaut explained his vision.

Vincent Callebaut Architectures Report

#3

New Spire Designs

Studio NAB proposes a project that would turn the top of the cathedral into a greenhouse-like structure. The spire, in their vision could house a tower of beehives.

studio NAB Report

#4

13 Architects Suggest Notre Dame Cathedral Reconstruction Designs

"Our Proposal for the new roof and spire at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris: A Phoenix rises from the ashes. The spire, clad in sand cast copper panels, emerges from the blackened stainless steel roof supported by flame charred glulam trusses in remembrance of what was and what can become."

studiotjoa Report

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
#5

New Spire Designs

"A proposal by summumarchi gives access to Notre Dame's attic to make it a commemorative park, with purple colors in memory of the fire, while taking advantage of this enormous generosity of donations to make it a sanctuary for animals and insects even more threatened in cities. May this reconstruction serve the environment, and demonstrate to the rest of the world the knowledge of our French companions of how to deal with magnificent, technical, timeless architecture at the highest level possible. A symbol for future generations."

summumarchi Report

Add photo comments
POST
edodgesa avatar
Elaine Dodge
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I quite like this one. But not the beam of light out the top. There's too much light pollution as there is and it confuses migratory birds.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#6

New Spire Designs

Architect Norman Foster proposed turning the cathedral's spire into a “super-slender needle touching heaven’s clouds”. It would give the structure more light, reflecting the contemporary architecture.

Norman Foster Report

Add photo comments
POST
austinsheldon1995 avatar
santiagomorales avatar
Santiago Morales
Community Member
4 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

that's what ppl's said when you have not study anything about heritage architecture or read any author. You can not just repair the spire as it was. The new designed must show the pain and suffering of this disaster, lot of ppl around the world was touched because of this lost and if you restore it the same way is to forget the episode that shocked us worlwide. Try to think out the box, this is not about ugly or pretty, it's about memory, history, remember. Greetings!

Load More Replies...
upthearts avatar
Barbara Pye
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Most of these designs look like the roof has been placed on top without any consideration for the overall design

upthearts avatar
Barbara Pye
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Seems that the designers are not realizing that the roof is (part of the whole building) and not separate from the rest

riddlegame avatar
Carolyn Riddle
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Why do we want to illuminate the space below the roof? So you can't appreciate the original stained glass windows? This is a church, not a carnival venue. Glass in summer is hot, hot, hot.

patrickmahar avatar
patrick mahar
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Norman Foster is a Moloch worshiper and should be nowhere near a house of God

festersixonesixonethree avatar
Fester Sixonesixonethree
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

There's a ceiling below below the roof - why illuminate the attic? I wouldn't hire Foster to design a dog house if he doesn't understand basic cathedral architecture.

x9gunrun avatar
Gunrad Bladson
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I thought part of the idea was to make the ceiling more transparent. Nôtre Dame used to be very, VERY dark inside. Spooky, unhealthy ...

Load More Replies...
claireskrine avatar
Just saying
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If you angle the spire you can focus light so that it sets other near by buildings on fire.

brucedaily avatar
Bruce Daily
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Glass cover for this design is a bit too modern for the architecture of the cathedral and the "Viewing platform is a non-starter for me. This is a house of worship, not an Eiffel tower tourist lookout.

jenniferhejtmnkov avatar
Jennifer Hejtmánková
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm shocked that an architect doesn't know that there are stone vaults between the roof and the interior....

x9gunrun avatar
Gunrad Bladson
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Of course he does. I thought the ceiling also had to be rebuilt and the inside has always been too dark.

Load More Replies...
onemessylady avatar
Aunt Messy
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Adding light to the structure would make the whole experience so much better for so many people. People tend to forget that this is a LIVING BUILDING. For the last thousand years (you weren’t stupid enough to think there’s only been a church there for 850 years, were you?) this building has been under construction, and for the last thousand years every generation has added new things to it.

annarepp avatar
Anna Repp
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

IDK - stained glass windows look best in a dark environment, where the light shines through them. Adding a skylight will ruin that experience.

Load More Replies...
x9gunrun avatar
Gunrad Bladson
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I think the rounded style of this glass roof blends in quite well. But this spire is totally out of place. To thin, to simple & boring.

quinnalexander avatar
Quinn Alexander
Community Member
4 years ago

This comment has been deleted.

karin-morris-75 avatar
Karin Morris
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

WHY is everyone trying to put a modern twist on a beautiful historical building. I don't understand it. Why don't they just rebuild it exactly as it was before.

jyrihakola avatar
Jyri Hakola
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Designers should learn at least the simplest principles. In gothic architecure there are no usable space to be illuminated with natural light. Only the rough and unfinished upper Slides of vaulted inner ceiling..

x9gunrun avatar
Gunrad Bladson
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That's not true. The cathedral builders were always competing to make the lightest, most illuminated structure.

Load More Replies...
nick_sady avatar
Nick Sady
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm sure the Bible has frowny sections about pointy things. It's somewhere towards the back but it's in there.

edodgesa avatar
Elaine Dodge
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The contemporary architecture? First time I've heard 850 years old being described as contemporary.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#8

New Spire Designs

"This subject is very sensitive for reasons that are easily understood. The wood that the construction was made out of as well as its assemblages and age make it a remarkable and honorable creation. It is hard to imagine that there would be another option than rebuilding the identical roof structure and the roof by using all the documents we have. Just like the castle of Guédelon, that is being rebuilt using the knowledge of our ancestors, Notre-Dame de Paris could also become a huge open-air educational project. In a few decades, this tragic episode would fade and as a result we would have a brand new roof of the Cathedral. But if we think about it, would we really be satisfied with this result? What other pleasure would we find besides that of comforting us in the certainty that everything is eternal?"

godart_roussel_architectes Report

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
#9

New Spire Designs

"Our proposal for the restoration of the Notre Dame Cathedral is to use one element that it has the best, the stained glass.
Make all the cover in stained glass, including the tower, with transparency to the inner side, through the opening of the vaults, leaving only the structures flying buttresses.
In Gothic there is the connection of the earth to the sky, and inside the Cathedral, the natural illumination multiplies in colors through the filter of the cover in stained glass.
At night the inner illumination turns into a grandiose retro backlit coverage."

alexandre_fantozzi Report

#10

New Spire Designs

"NOUVELLE DAME - Proposal for a new cover of Notre Dame, París"

poa.estudio Report

#12

13 Architects Suggest Notre Dame Cathedral Reconstruction Designs

"Upward motion, an idea of mine for Notre Dame’s spire"

honored_art Report

#13

New Spire Designs

"Today the French architecture board website reads, ’Heritage, ancient or contemporary, is a revealing and structuring element of our culture, and we must inculcate ourselves to keep alive these markers but also built today the markers of our time’.Ultimately, I trust in France’s cultural core and its decision makers to have the audacity to move forward while retaining The Lady’s timeless image. I can only hope the project will be humble but innovative, delicate, beautiful and engaged,created by highly skilled people around a common table."

deroodavid Report

Add photo comments
POST
edodgesa avatar
Elaine Dodge
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That weird sheeting looks like it's covering some of the exterior architecture. Why on earth would you do that?

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
See Also on Bored Panda
#14

13 Architects Suggest Notre Dame Cathedral Reconstruction Designs

"Some say that we should rebuild the spire as it was originally. Others say that we should design a new one. So, let’s build a new one as it was... 8 days ago"

mathieulehanneur Report

#15

New Spire Designs

"A single element used, stained glass. No new architectural features, no intervention elements (redesign), no ego, no artistic aspirations.
The material specified for this, stained glass, is made of a high-tech glass produced by a renowned and traditional French factory. The glasses have sun protection, without changing the desired aesthetic.
The windows offer greater thermal comfort inside the Cathedral, greater natural light, reduces external noise."

alexandre_fantozzi Report

Add photo comments
POST
edodgesa avatar
Elaine Dodge
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

NO! That looks like really ugly Christmas wrapping paper! Gag.

View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
#16

New Spire Designs

"It’s a tragedy. Nothing would ever return over 850 years of beauty, but it's time to [rebirth] Notre-Dame. In Gothic times builders [tried] to reach the sky, Le Duc [tried] it also in 19th century and have come closer. Now it's possible to make it happen. Lightweight crown that connects heaven with earth."

vizumatelier Report

#17

Notre-Dame-Cathedral-New-Spire-Designs

kissthearchitect Report

Add photo comments
POST
edodgesa avatar
Elaine Dodge
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

NONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONO!!!!!!!!! Oh, hang on... this is a joke, right. In that case... bwahahahahaha!

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
See Also on Bored Panda