Renew or save without processing? The debate between experts on the restoration of Notre Dame

Since the fire of the iconic cathedral Our Lady On April 15, many were proposed for its reconstruction. Architecture studios around the world have blurred the craziest ideas, ranging from building a rooftop pool, to parking at a McDonald's.

Although this seems crazy, all the projects suggest a debate on the bases on which the reformulation of the Gothic monument should be considered.

The famous architect and professor of the National School of Architecture of Versailles, Arnoldo Rivkin, in communication with Infobae He explained his position, more conservative and faithful to the original style of the monument: "If the Venice Charter was applied to historical monuments (1964), it should be restored without transforming it, but here there are several architectural and political questions" .

"What you need to rebuild is the roof and its wooden structure and the needle, and the first one is the one that proposes to make it out of metal or concrete, which, although it does not seem to increase the security of the structure The fire built by Viollet le Duc, a great specialist in Gothic architecture, was built in the middle of the 19th century Many of the new projects are not based on Gothic architecture they might erase the contents of a monument of this size. "

Notre Dame is certainly a Christian monument, but its significance far exceeds, according to the expert: "The cathedral represents the identity of the French nation and Western civilization. In a historic moment when this civilization is in danger, the fire of the cathedral and the spontaneous reaction of the French and world population imply an awareness of what is at stake in this moment of globalization. "

"In the next elections to the European Parliament, the weight of the parties that oppose the Brussels Commission, which did not want to include the Judeo-Christian origin of Europe in its constitution, will certainly increase. " The emotion caused by the fire of Notre Dame shows well that the European crisis has causes not only in economic problems, but also in abandoning the defense of a civilization " .

Cordouan Marcelo Jouliá, who lives in France since 1976, is one of the architects working on a reconstruction proposal. Argentina studied urban planning, geography and architecture. In 1990, he opened his studio in Paris and has offices in Shanghai and Buenos Aires. The Jouliá Project he will present it in two weeks and, although he has not given much detail to the press, he planned to complete the silhouette of the frontal towers with a temporary intervention including a "stairway to the sky".

From Italy, the famous architect Michele De Lucchi, A prominent figure in the design world and a member of the legendary Memphis group in the 1980s, he also expressed his opinion: "I always say that we must look to the future and not be influenced by the past. the disaster of Notre Dame I believe that this monument must be rebuilt as it was before the fire ".

He gave several reasons to support his position: "It is a beautiful church built over the centuries and which becomes a symbol, we have a great need for symbols to understand us, it is an object made to different times and with different techniques When we admire these monuments, we also admire the men who designed, designed and built them. "

"I do not want the fire to erase the heroism inherent in this building, I would like our children and the children of our children to feel so, we have plenty of opportunities and opportunities to express our time in new buildings without having to make a direct comparison between different times and worlds, it was built from the search for an ideal of universal beauty at a time when we believed in the universal.At today, we are in the era of relativism and each of us believe in a personal idea and individual beauty ".

De Lucchi explained that in times of constant transformation, it is difficult to apply our agitated state of mind to something that has remained intact over the past centuries. And he believes that in the logic of reconstruction, many improvements and measures are possible without involving reinventing the roof and the needle.

And he gave the example: "Even in the past, parts of monuments have been rebuilt without necessarily changing the basic structure inherited from the San Marcos steeple in Venice and many parts of Europe rebuilt after the war."