Tag Archives: Paris

Notre-Dame remains dicey

Posted on December 26, 2019 by

It was recently reported that the annual Christmas mass at Notre-Dame de Paris will not take place for the first time since the French Revolution, and, by the way, the survival of the entire cathedral, most of which was thought … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Preservation | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

People’s Notre-Dame contest

Posted on July 8, 2019 by

GoArchitect offers “The People’s Notre-Dame Design Contest,” supposedly as distinct from the international design competition announced by France after the cathedral fire in April. So far as I can tell, the announcement has not been followed up officially with a … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Dalrymple: Curl’s ‘Dystopia’

Posted on June 11, 2019 by

Theodore Dalrymple, the British prison doctor, psychiatrist and social critic, has written several reviews of James Stevens Curl’s book Making Dystopia, the most detailed and penetrating history of modern architecture written thus far. Each of Dalrymple’s several reviews seems intended … Continue reading →

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While Our Lady is restored

Posted on May 14, 2019 by

The as yet officially unannounced international design competition on how to repair Notre-Dame de Paris after her extensive damage by fire has already spawned a number of predictably ridiculous proposals. One would replace the roof with a swimming pool intended, … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Preservation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

How to rebuild Notre-Dame

Posted on May 1, 2019 by

Right out of the box, France announced an international competition to determine whether and how to rebuild the roof and spire of Notre-Dame, destroyed by fire on April 15. French President Emmanuel Macron wants the job done by 2024, in … Continue reading →

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Flèche of Viollet-le-Duc

Posted on April 21, 2019 by

The lost spire of Notre-Dame must be rebuilt, but how? An international design competition has been announced to decide how to rebuild it, whether as it was or as “adapted to techniques and challenges of our times.” These last are … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Preservation | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Notre Dame redivivus?

Posted on April 16, 2019 by

Notre Dame lives! Monday was pure concentrated stress and sadness – the horror! – watching the spire teeter and fall, then seeing the fire creep along what remained of the roof toward the betowered west façade, and then, as flames … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Preservation | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 20 Comments

Barf on Arc de Triomphe

Posted on April 5, 2019 by

Christo plans to work his tragic on Paris’s Arc de Triomphe, draping it in blue fabric, but fortunately not until 2020, well after my family and I visit the City of Light, if we decide to go. The arch has … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Humor, Video | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Save the Chartres Cathedral

Posted on February 5, 2019 by

In my 2014 blog post “Change at Chartres” I discussed New York Review of Books critic Martin Filler’s “Scandalous Makeover at Chartres,” a critique of the interior restoration work at the famous cathedral about 60 miles to the southwest of … Continue reading →

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Europe as museum for rich?

Posted on October 7, 2018 by

The late Walter Laqueur, who died last week after a long career cataloguing the sins of communism, terrorism and the Holocaust, was quoted in his New York Times obituary asserting that the “possibility that Europe will become a museum or … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments