Like some others here, I definitely feel fortunate to have been able to see it last fall! It really made me sad to see this on the news!
Getting assistance for the rebuild... https://www.bing.com/search?q=Frenc...d46f-64b3-47cb-ba4f-06d986c12e48"&FORM=HPNN01
Have to say, they didn't get the roof out quick but looking at some of the after pics they kept it contained up there WAY better than I'd ever have expected. Lot of the interior is water damaged but not much more in other pretty significant parts. Also with the fire not going down into the interior much the base stone structure should still be in good shape especially since the way it was built didn't reply on the roof for support in any way (at least that's what I remember from long ago history and architecture classes).
Im torn as to whether they should do a traditional tyoe of restoration or just go full tilt the other direction. It was such a stunning building inside and out.. And yes, the butresses are what hold the walls up. I'm also guessing that the photos are deceiving. When the spire fell im sure it didn't help things. And it looked like most of the windows were destroyed. But I saw they were able to save the main organ. Which is just incredible. I've never seen firefighters move so fast. Fucking great job on thier part.
The firefighters worked hard on that. It helps that the cathedral had such a iconic part of the city. I am sure that they had a contingency plan for if there ever was a fire and if they didn't, they did a great job improvising. I even saw a picture of some of the stained glass that apparently survived.
They came up with a fire plan in recent years after some other fires in other places. Including measuring up fireproof tarps (I don't know if that's the correct word) and stuff deployed to protect the art inside. Still, they think that their response time was 15-30 minutes away from losing the entire cathedral. The first inspection when the fire alarm went off turned up nothing. By the time they realized that they should call the fire department, they were perilously close to being too late.
This is a common theme among every field of human endeavor! Maintenance is way less sexy than new shit so it gets less funding and attention. Our entire civilization is a house of cards. Notre Dame is just a microcosm.
Our company pledged 1 million Euros to the Notre-Dame Fund and they're matching any donations employees make.
They have pledges for 1.3billion so far. Honestly, why? I get that it has history, but that is $1million dollars for 1300 people. To rebuild something that will never have the same awe inspiring history as the original. To break that down, let say that it will take $300mil in materials (it won't) to rebuild, that is $200,000 a year for 5 yrs for 1000 people to rebuild it. That is ridiculous.
History is important to people. I think it could all be spent better but I get why they want to do it.
You say original, but something I learned was the spire that collapsed wasn't built until the 1800's, so they've been continuously improving it since the beginning. In my mind it will still be awe inspiring.
But will it? The awe inspiring part to me is how the heck they did it without modern technology, like cranes.
Then why rebuild anything? Most major cities more than a few hundred years old have been completely destroyed by fire or war - some multiple times. Should we just abandon what we‘ve built?