The fire at Windsor Castle started when a curtain was ignited by a spotlight pressed against it (AFP Photo/EPA) |
London (AFP) - One of the architects who helped restore Windsor Castle after a devastating fire said a shortage of craftsmen could hold up the reconstruction of Notre-Dame.
"The
supply of craftsmen with the skill to work so much stone, so much timber, so
much lead, so much glass for the windows is something which the industry in the
whole of Europe may well be challenged to meet at the present moment,"
Francis Maude, director at the Donald Insall Associates architect firm, told
AFP.
"There
are other very large projects which are facing the same limitations," he
said, giving the example of the Houses of Parliament where his firm is also
working.
Maude's
firm was called upon by the British royal family to help restore Windsor Castle
following a fire in 1992 that also shocked the country.
The fire
began in the Queen's Private Chapel when a curtain was ignited by a spotlight
pressed up against it. It spread to the State Apartments, including St George's
banqueting hall, and engulfed Brunswick Tower.
There were
no casualties, also thanks to the quick reaction of the castle's own small fire
brigade.
The
restoration work began in 1995 and was completed in 1997, costing £36.5 million
at the time.
As part of the renovation, a specially commissioned stained-glass window was installed in the medieval surrounding depicting a firefighter battling the blaze.
The
cathedral's relatively bare interior should count in its favour, compared to
Windsor Castle (AFP Photo/LUDOVIC MARIN)
|
As part of the renovation, a specially commissioned stained-glass window was installed in the medieval surrounding depicting a firefighter battling the blaze.
The
castle's grandest rooms were restored to their former state while others were
modernised, and the issue of how faithfully to stick to the original design is
likely to be the source of "big discussion" when rebuilding the
iconic Parisian cathedral.
"There
will be some who think the only way we can restore Notre-Dame is to make it
exactly the same as it was before," said Maude.
Alternatively,
restorers could draw inspiration from the rebuilding of Reims Cathedral after
World War One, when a fire-resistant steel roof was installed.
Stonework
at risk
Maude
pointed out that "there has already been a process of change at
Notre-Dame" with the 19th century restoration work done by French
architect Viollet-le-Duc, and that carefully selected parts of the church could
be modernised, making it more efficient and less at risk of future fires.
But it is
likely to be many months before the mammoth cleaning-up process ends and an
assessment made on which parts of the 850-year-old Gothic masterpiece can be
salvaged.
"One
particular difficulty which I can imagine is the cathedral being largely
constructed of limestone," warned Maude.
When limestone is exposed to temperatures of over eight hundred degrees centigrade, it "decays through chemical reaction... and it's then rather difficult to use it again," he said.
Donors have
already pledged hudreds of millions of euros for restoration
(AFP
Photo/FRANCOIS GUILLOT)
|
When limestone is exposed to temperatures of over eight hundred degrees centigrade, it "decays through chemical reaction... and it's then rather difficult to use it again," he said.
"I can
imagine that there's going to be a lot of the historic surface of the stonework
lost but there may be stone buried deeper within the walls which can be
capped."
'A symbol
of renewal'
The
cathedral's relatively bare interior should count in its favour, compared to
Windsor Castle, where centuries of redevelopments led to a complex web of empty
spaces behind the walls.
Money does
not appear to be an issue, with billionaire donors already pledging hundreds of
millions of euros.
The
director said he would be "delighted to be invited" to help in the
restoration, which he believes could end up revitalising the UNESCO world
heritage landmark.
"It
can be a symbol of renewal," he said of the fire.
"There's
also an opportunity in some parts of a rebuilt Notre-Dame to have a new
expression of an artistic temperament for our own times."
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