Could medieval castle-building techniques help save the Notre Dame cathedral?
This is the Guédelon medieval construction site, a back-to-the-future project that involves recreating a 13th century castle from scratch.
Since then, arguments have raged as to how to restore Notre Dame. Traditionalists want the cathedral — listed as a United Nations World Heritage site — rebuilt as it was. Modernists have other ideas. When French President Emmanuel Macron said he wanted Notre Dame repaired in five years and suggested he was open to a “contemporary gesture,” imaginations ran wild as architects dreamed up increasingly fabulous plans for glass and steel spires; a forest garden in the roof; a massive swimming pool.
Alexandre Hecker, head quarryman, breaks a stone in the quarry at the Guedelon medieval castle project. At the forge, blacksmiths heat and hammer iron for nails, while complex geometric calculations are done with a thirteen-knot rope and a stick in the dust. Since it opened in 1998, Guédelon has been built by trial and error. One learning curve is immediately evident: the red-brown clay tiles on the right of the chateau roof are blackened in places. “They were part of a first batch left in the oven too long,” says Preston. Again, it was decided Courtney could not afford to throw them away.
“It was an apogee in architecture. To build anything higher we had to wait for the 20th century and modern materials like metal and concrete,” Renucci says. “But look at Notre Dame; the wood burned but the stone structure remained upright, which is incredible. The technology of the 13th century stood firm and didn’t collapse.”
Jean-Claude Bellanger, of the Compagnons du Devoir — Companions of Duty — a trades’ guild, agrees France has the, or know-how, to restore Notre Dame to its original state but says hundreds more stonecutters, masons, carpenters and roofers are needed to repair and maintain the cathedral and the country’s estimated 40,000 historic monuments, many dating back to the Middle Ages.
Schrauwen admits his parents were “not pleased” when he gave up his formal studies. “It was a difficult time,” he says. “But now my mother sees what I’m doing and how passionate I am about it, she’s happy."
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A medieval castle in France could be the salvation of Notre Dame cathedralAt the Guédelon medieval construction site in central France, the year is 1250. Workers are recreating a 13th century castle from scratch with the methods and materials in use in the Middle Ages.
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