A Paris architectural company has proposed a solar powered roof and an urban farm for the burned Notre Dame cathedral.
Paris-based Vincent Callebaut Architectures says it's "hardly enough" to reproduce the past as it used to be, and wants to project the building towards a "desirable future".
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"Thus, we seek to present a transcendent project, a symbol of a resilient and ecological future that offers the city Paris a set of solutions inspired by biomimicry, defined here as a common ethic for a fairer symbiotic relationship between humans and nature," a statement from the company said.
The statement said part of the idea was to turn Notre Dame into a positive energy building, designed to produce more energy than it consumes.
A three-dimensional Gothic stained glass "graft" would produce all the electricity, heat and passive ventilation the cathedral might require.
"The new wooden frame is covered with a three-dimensional crystal glass dress subdivided into faceted diamond-shaped elements," the company says. "These crystals consist of an organic layer, made of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen, which absorbs light and transforms it into power."
The company says the cathedral would become an "exemplary eco-engineering structure".
It's also proposed a garden at the cathedral, devoted to "contemplation and meditation".
"Indeed, it is cultivated by volunteers and charitable associations to help the most deprived and homeless Parisians."
Newshub.
