Paris, Jan 9 (AFP/APP): French architects want the roof of the fire-ravaged Notre-Dame cathedral to be rebuilt in wood and not in metal or concrete.
One of the heads of the country’s biggest architects’ body said reconstructing the roof in anything other than the original wood would be a mistake.
The intervention by Eric Wirth of the Guild of French Architects comes amid controversy over French President Emmanuel Macron’s wish for the spire of the 13th-century monument to be given a “contemporary” touch.
“The most modern and ecological material today is wood,” Wirth said Wednesday, which, as well as being more fire-resistant than the alternatives, also traps carbon, he insisted.
His comments come after the army general put in charge of the restoration, Jean-Louis Georgelin, dismissed reports that the massive roof would be redone in oak as nothing more than “lobbying” by the wood industry.
“There will be a study, and all possible options will be examined,” he said.
But Wirth took him to task, telling French MPs at a parliamentary hearing that “talking about lobbying on a subject like this does not honour the edifice.”
Price was not an issue, he argued, “the money is there”.
