Only a few hours had passed since the terrible accident last June that devastated the Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris.
Against the backdrop of still steaming rubble, French President Emanuel Macron appealed to the world's best talents to provide ideas for reconstruction.
Just a few days after the Japanese architect and designer Shigeru Ban he presented his proposal for a temporary structure in front of the cathedral to welcome tourists, faithful and religious events.
In the starchitect's intentions (to be clear, even if I hate the term) the "paper cathedral" should have been quickly built, using recycled elements (a bit like in the next vertical forest under construction in Zagreb) and cardboard columns and be equally easily dismantled.
Shigeru Ban's proposal includes a space surrounded by two long rows of blocks arranged to create a walking area. It's a bit as if a proto-cathedral in front of the real one had a large open nave that allows for ample ventilation.
On containers arranged in two lines and used as shops, small confessionals or offices, another floor (of slightly lower blocks) would act as a warehouse and a counterweight to stabilize the structure.
Last but not least (in truth it would be the most characteristic and suggestive element) an observation platform at the bottom of the structure, so as to always have in front of you the state of the renovations of the Notre-Dame cathedral.
“The final decision has not yet been formally approved,” the French Minister of Culture has repeatedly informed Franck Riester. “We are thinking about what the best declination of a similar project could be. I personally consider it a good idea to build a temporary cathedral or a light construction to give tourists and citizens a place to pray."
