Laster scanning of the Notre-Dame Cathedral, carried out by the late Belgian art historian Andrew Tallon, has played an instrumental role in restoring the 850-year-old Gothic cathedral. That is according to Ya Ka-sing, an Associate Professor of Architectural Practice at the University of Hong Kong. Days after French President Emmanuel Macon reopened the cathedral, Ya Ka-sing said Tallon’s scans of the interior and exterior before the blaze provided basic information for the 1,000-plus restoration team to start with.
“Basically, it is the process that can allow the site to create a digital twin of the historic building by collecting a range of geospatial information,” he said. Yu said China is now cooperating closely with France in restoring historic buildings, including Emperor Qinshihuang’s Mausoleum Site Museum – which houses the remains of the founder of the first unified empire in Chinese history, with deputy director Zhou Ping visiting the Notre-Dame Cathedral earlier this year to gain a better understanding of the restoration process.
“In the international heritage conservation aspect, both France and China are of the highest levels,” said Yu. “And given that the Emperor Qinshihuang’s Mausoleum [Site Museum] has also got many burned timber debris, so sharing some similarity with Notre Dame, the two sites have some good knowledge for exchange.”
On Saturday, 1500 delegates from across the world—including US President-elect Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Prince William, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni—gathered to celebrate the reopening of Notre Dame de Paris, more than five years after it was burnt down.
Speaking from inside the cathedral, French President Emmanuel Macron expressed gratitude to the French nation: “Tonight, the bells of Notre Dame are ringing again. And in a moment, the organ will awaken,” sending the “music of hope” throughout France and the world beyond.”
- For more information about the Notre-Dame restoration, visit Wood Central’s special features on the construction of the cathedral’s choir, the construction of the wooden spire, the installation of the trusses over the cathedral roof, guidelines for carpenters working in the cathedral, and the Golden Rooster, which now stands atop the cathedral spire.
