Jeffrey Schaeffer/AP
A crane lifts part of the new roof of the Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris, Thursday, May 25, 2023, near Angers, western France.
Tuesday 30 May 2023 | 9:56 am
SAINT-LAURENT-DE-LA-PLAINE, France - Over time, medieval carpenters would be amazed to see the woodworking techniques they developed more than 800 years ago being used in the construction of Notre-Dame Cathedral. . The roof of the world famous monument was destroyed by fire.
The reverse is certainly true for modern carpenters using medieval skills. Working with an ax to shape the hundreds of tons of oak for Notre-Dame's new roof is like stepping back in time. This gave them a new appreciation for the handiwork of their predecessors, who continued to push the boundaries of architecture in the 13th century.
"Sometimes a little is a lot," said Peter Henrikson, one of the carpenters. There is, he says, hammer against chisel, arguing that medieval opponents "basically made the same connection 900 years ago." "
"It's interesting," he said. "We're probably thinking the same thing."
Using hand tools to rebuild roofs reduced to ash by fires in 2019 was a conscious and well thought out decision, especially since power tools will get the job done faster. Its purpose is to honor the extraordinary knowledge of the cathedral's original builders and to preserve the centuries-old art of wood carving.
"We want to return this cathedral to the way it was built in the Middle Ages," said Jean-Louis Georgelin, the retired French army general who oversaw the reconstruction.
"It's a way of being loyal to all the people who built all the great monuments in France."
With a short deadline for the cathedral to reopen in December 2024, carpenters and architects are also using computer-aided design and other modern technologies to speed up the reconstruction. Computers were used to create detailed blueprints for the carpenters to ensure the hand-carved blocks fit perfectly.
"Traditional woodworkers thought a lot about it," says Henrikson. It's amazing to think how they did it with the tools and technology they had at the time.
The 61-year-old American is from Grand Marais, Minnesota. Most of the other craftsmen working on the frame are French.
The reconstruction of the roof reached a major milestone in May, when most of the new wooden structure was assembled and erected in workshops in the Loire Valley in western France.
The silent operation convinced the architects that the frame served its purpose. The next time you mount it, it will be on top of the cathedral. Unlike in the Middle Ages, it was transported to Paris by truck and lifted by a mechanical crane. About 1,200 trees were cut down for the work.
"Our goal is to restore the wooden structure that was lost in the fire of 15 April 2019 to its original state," explains the architect Rémi Fromont, who in 2012 made detailed drawings of the original cladding.
The reconstructed frame is "the same 13th-century wooden frame," he says. "We have the same material: oak. We have the same tools, with the same axes used, the same tools. We have the same knowledge. And soon it will return to the same place.
"This," he added, "is a real awakening."
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John Leicester contributed to this report from Paris.
