A Beautiful Day of Demonstrations at Millennium Gate Museum
The Notre-Dame de Paris Truss Project exhibition at the Millennium Gate Museum ended with a gorgeous sunny day of demonstrations and presentations in Atlanta, GA. The Full-scale reconstruction of Notre Dame’s choir truss #6 stood on the Western terrace of Millennium Gate enjoying its last moments amongst the Atlanta community.
The Millennium Gate Closing Exhibition Team with the choir truss #6 reconstruction on exhibition at Millennium Gate Museum in Atlanta, GA. From left to right, top row: Grigg Mullen Jr., Zane Mitra, Mez Welch, Abigail Sekely, Ross Beebe, Dan Perez. Middle Row: Jake Hochendoner, Juan Soto, Lorenzo DeAlmeida, Kelsey Riordan, Lindsay S. Cook, Laura Brown, Rodney Cook, Rick Brown, Marie Brown. Front Row: Rian Brown
A 1/10 scale model of the Eastern end of the Notre-Dame de Paris roof structure. This curved roof structure called an Apse, is a work-in-progress being built by “La Forêt Model Project” participants Handshouse Studio is organizing groups and institutions around the country.
The view from the roof of the gate of the hands-on workshop demonstrations and tip of the full-scale Notre Dame choir truss reconstruction exhibited at Millennium Gate Museum.
The 1/10 scale model of the Notre Dame choir apse built by “La Foret Model Project” students from The North Bennet Street School, Gordon College, and MIT Architecture stood under the Millennium Gate arch giving a smaller scale sense of the complex structure that this single full-scale truss would have been a part of in the roof structure of Notre Dame cathedral in Paris.
The 1/10 scale model of choir truss #6 and 4 secondary trusses built by Catholic University students on display at Millennium Gate Museum.
Additional models that contextualize these elements of Notre Dame cathedral in structural and architectural history were on display in the 5th floor gallery of the museum attended by Catholic University Architecture students who participated in making them. In a 2021 summer course taught at The Catholic University of America by Tonya Ohnstad, Associate Dean of Graduate Studies, School of Architecture and Planning, with the support of Architecture faculty Lorenzo Dealmeida was the first of the “La Foret Model Project” and focused on the architecture of Notre-Dame de Paris. A team of Catholic University participants including Lorenzo DeAlmeida, Juan Soto, ( and Juan Soto Sr. who joined his son for the trip), Abigail Sekely, and Kelsey Riordan came to Atlanta to help represent the project.
Meanwhile, on the Western lawn, traditional timber framing skills were being demonstrated by timber framers Mez Welch and Ross Beebe of Rockbridge Timber Frames. They worked with participants teaching how to convert logs into a timbers using only axes, plum-bobs, and string; techniques that would have been used by the medieval carpenters that originally constructed Notre-Dame. Amelia Andrews of University of Georgia Historic Preservation Masters Program, and Marty Epp-Carty and Waylon Bigsby, and their team of their students from the South Carolina Governor's School for the Arts and Humanities came to participate in this hands-on workshop and raising.
Mez Welch explaining how to convert a log into a timber to hands-on workshop participants Amalia Andrews, Historic Preservation MA canditate at UGA, and Linsday S Cook PhD, Assistant Professor of Art History at Ball State University, IN.
Timber Framer, Ross Beebe teaching students, Jonathan Helvy and Katie Brown of the South Carolina Governors School of Arts and Humanities. how to square a log.
Zane Mitra, Virginia Military Institute alumni, demonstrating how to pop a line with a string to SC Governor’s School student, Ruby Clack.
Also on the green, was Grigg Mullen, Jr. Civil Engineer and Professor Emeritus from Virginia Military Institute, who demonstrated, with the help of workshop participants, how to raise a truss with ropes and human hands.
Grigg Mullen Jr. working with South Carolina Governors School students assembling the small truss used to demonstrate the process of hand-raising with ropes and rigging.
Hands-on workshop participants working together to demonstrate how to raise a timber frame structure by hand.
Lindsay S. Cook, PhD, Assistant Professor, Art History, Ball State University, Muncie, IN and Notre-Dame de Paris Truss Project historian presented her field research on the Architectural History of Notre-Dame de Paris. She also jumped into the action gaining a new perspective of the cathedral learning about its history with an axe in her hands.
Documentary filmmakers, Rian Brown of Studio Orsoopolis and Jake Hochendoner of Divided Line Productions, who have been following The Notre-Dame de Paris Truss from the felling of the first trees, shared the trailer of their work-in-process documentary film they are co-producing called TRUSS: A gift for Notre Dame. They also took the opportunity of to continue capturing footage of the project following the journey every step of the way.
Closing Exhibition guests seated for presentations by the Notre-Dame de Paris Truss Project team members, Project Historian Lindsay S. Cook PhD, documentary film makers Rian Brown and Jake Hochendoner, and Handshouse Executive Director, Marie Brown.
More than 100 guests joined us for this exhibition closing event to observe these hands-on demonstrations along-side the exhibition. The Notre Dame de Paris Truss Project began a little over a year ago with ambitious plans to bring the Handshouse educational mission to the significant task of learning about the priceless heritage lost in the Notre-Dame de Paris 2019 fire by replicating one of the lost trusses with the traditional methods of the original builders.. Thanks to the hard work, skill, passion, curiosity, and generous spirits of an international community of support, this project has already brought together hundreds of people to celebrate the makers and the cultural heritage embodied in the making of Notre-Dame de Paris.
Our work continues toward fulfilling the dream of “gifting” a full-scale reconstruction to Notre-Dame in Paris.
Handshouse wants to honor the work of all the project partners, participants, and donors that has been done so far. As a community we have demonstrated how powerful it is to come together, to use our hands to celebrate our history, and to work toward repairing lost heritage together.
Meet our Millennium Gate Closing Team!
The full-scale reconstruction of Notre Dame choir truss #6 being lifted from Millennium Gate Museum’s terrace to be disassembled on the street.
Handshoues wants to honor the work of all the project partners, participants, and donors that has been done so far. . With all of you, we have demonstrated how powerful it is to come together, to use our hands to celebrate our history, and to work hard in community toward repairing heritage when it has been destroyed.
Thank you to Millennium Gate Museum, and Rodney Cook, Mac Schmitz, Dan Perez, and Richard Kerfoot for all the hard work you offered in welcoming this exhibition to the museum!
Thank you to Our Closing Exhibition team both for your hard work taking down this sizable exhibition! We had the fun of getting to use a 21st century crane to lift the entire assembled truss above the city to lay it down across the 3 lanes of a closed off atlanta street where our team of timber framers disassembled it and restacked it as timbers on a trailer to drive back to Lexington, VA.
And a thank you to our support volunteers: those who shared their homes, and spaces, and expertise toward making this exhibition in Atlanta possible: William Smith, Clarence Smith, Kendrick Smith, James Smith and Mary Anne Walser, Laurie McCrae, Liz Bailey, Yari Wolinksy, Mike Pellissier.
Thank you to all guests and to the many generous donors who give to this ambitious endeavor!
A medieval rocket ready for launch from the streets of Atlanta onto her next adventure.