Reinventing the Notre-Dame Parvis through the Viollet-le-Duc National Centre for Heritage and Preservation of France
Contact details: Denisa-Iuliana Calomfirescu denisa.calomfirescu@gmail.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/denisa-iuliana-calomfirescu/ The Viollet-le-Duc National centre for Heritage and Preservation of France aims to reunite tourists and locals in a reinvented historical frame, which is the Notre-Dame Parvis (square) in connection to the less popular crypt with Roman ruins. Not only that the programme will be attractive to both cohorts, but by siting the centre right in the Parvis, this will help repopulate a considerable part of Ile de la Cite. The 2019 fire which destructed the iconic spire of Notre Dame, together with its eight-century-old roof and important architectural features of the building, highlighted the need of developing contemporary strategies for restoring monuments and of creating an institute that studies this, which will be Viollet-le-Duc National Centre for Heritage and Preservation. Considering that the contemporary tendency is to freeze a building at a given point in time and recreate its features, the Centre wishes to explore alternatives to this method and become a pioneering institute for researching and directly implementing strategies of experimental preservation. Ile de la Cite has been the core of Paris and France for its political and religious importance, which is why its current state of abandonment raises serious concerns. It had housed a lively variety of building and different activities, from commercial, to institutional, to residential, all up to the late 19th century, when Barron Haussmann reorganized the city, demolished most of the island, relocated powerful institutions to here, as well as opened up a large square in front of the Notre Dame Cathedral. The creation of the square, as well as emptying the island of its natural life, has led to the current day desertification of the island. Tourists visit the island in order to photograph the grand landmarks, such as Notre Dame and Sainte Chapelle, after which, just as the locals, treat it as a transitional space. The design of the Centre also unifies principles of design in relation to the urban realm, in an attempt to become a real part of the historically rich city of Paris.