Handshouse Studio’s Notre-Dame de Paris Truss Project, welcomes the restoration architects of Notre-Dame de Paris who will help hand-raise a full-scale replica of a Notre-Dame truss.

Philippe Villeneuve and Rémi Fromont, Chief Architects of Historic Monuments, are coming to Washington, DC to give their first public talk in the United States since the catastrophic 2019 fire that badly damaged the cathedral Notre-Dame de Paris, which they are responsible for restoring. Punctuating their visit on Monday, September 26, 2022, will be a daylong series of events in the nation’s capital celebrating the makers of Notre-Dame de Paris, then and now.

In the Summer of 2021 and with the help of our collaborators, Handshouse Studio reconstructed Choir Truss #6 of the cathedral Notre-Dame de Paris at full scale in Washington, DC. Alongside this workshop, a The Catholic University of America Architecture department course was offered by Tonya Ohnstad AIA, NCAR, centered on the effort to explore the architectural history of Notre-Dame hands-on through the construction of a 1:10 scale model of Truss # 6, as well as studies of other architectural details of the cathedral.

This Handshouse-inspired, hands-on course kicked off what has grown into the ongoing La Forêt Model Project: an effort to bring together institutions, historians, architects, carpenters, and students for hands-on workshops to explore key features of the what is known in French as “La Forêt” (“The Forest”).  Exploring the Gothic cathedral hands-on, we are building a 1:10 scale white oak model of the choir section of the intricate wooden roof framework that–incorporating timber from trusses of an even earlier, 12th-century roof–stood above the stone vaults of Notre-Dame de Paris from the 13th century until the roof was destroyed by fire on April 15, 2019. 

In Spring 2022, Tonya Ohnstad continued work with Catholic University students, joining medieval architectural historian Lindsay Cook, PhD, and her students at Ball State University, collaborating on an exhibition project that will feature the completed 1:10 scale model of the roof above the Notre-Dame choir. Beginning in March 2022, Handshouse initiated work on the model itself, offering a workshop at their Norwell headquarters, bringing together Michael Burrey with his graduating class of North Bennet Street School preservation carpentry students, Architecture Graduates from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and students from Gordon College. This interdisciplinary team jumped into the challenge of recreating the roof of the apse, the curved east end of Notre-Dame. The apse is the structural element that shapes the elegant, curved cone at the end of the cathedral’s choir. This dense structure–one of the most complicated elements of the roof–is made up of over 250 wood elements, including 22 rafters that fan out to create the rounded end of the cathedral’s roof. While making the model, the team marveled at how the original makers might have constructed and installed this complicated roof structure over 800 year ago.  

We made great progress rediscovering this remarkable feat of timber framing through hours of intricate study of the architectural records we had been given and skilled carpentry from a talented group of makers. The apse roof, while still in progress, blossomed into a stunningly beautiful array. We couldn’t resist bringing it along to feature at our exhibition at Millennium Gate Museum in Atlanta, alongside the full-scale Truss # 6 replica in April 2022. The La Forêt Model then went on to The North Bennet Street School’s Making Matters exhibition for the summer. Now, it is back in Norwell. We offered a workshop in August, opening up our studio to the general public to participate. And this weekend, participants of the Norwell workshops are convening to give the apse roof model one last flurry of work to polish up the details for its very exciting upcoming exhibition in DC. 

This will be a moment when Chief Architects of Historic Monuments Philippe Villeneuve and Rémi Fromont, two of the three restoration architects of Notre-Dame de Paris, will be coming to the Catholic University of America and the National Building Museum for their first public talks in the U.S since the catastrophic 2019 fire. We are so honored to have this opportunity to share with the architects all the work we have created as part of the Notre-Dame de Paris Truss Project. 

The full-scale truss reconstruction we built with a team of professionals and students last summer, as well as the 1:10 scale model of La Forêt both emerged from the meticulous hand-drawn survey of the original timber roof structure Rémi Fromont and Cédric Trentesaux’s produced prior to the 2019 fire. We were thrilled when Fromont agreed to share his work with us for this project back at the first rumblings of our idea to develop the Notre-Dame de Paris Truss Project. We are so excited to have the chance to share the fruits of this endeavor with him.

For the La Forêt Model Project, we have also had access to the remarkable composite laser survey of the cathedral assembled by the Chantier scientifique (CNRS/MC), which has enabled additional insights. These “windows into history” are vital parts of the Handshouse process. The documentation of this lost object, created by intrepid architects and architectural historians who had to crawl amongst the cobwebs, is a critical element that helps us to “see” into its original structure. And then, through the process of remaking what was lost, we are able to dive into history and invite participants into the mind of the makers who cut the original timbers in the 12th century. 

The apse roof model will be exhibited with the Truss #6 model at Catholic University of America’s Architecture department, and the full-scale Truss #6 will also be raised once again in front of the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception on Monday, September 26.  

By Tuesday, September 27, it will all be packed up to go on the road again, this time for a week-long immersive workshop at the University of Georgia. We are working with Sculpture faculty member Martiijn van Wagtendonk and UGA Students to expand the model westward down the choir. We will be taking on primary trusses #7 and #8 and hoping to finish all the timber members in between. 

Help hand-raise of our Notre Dame Choir Truss # 6 replica Sept 26th in DC!

For Press Kit and more info Click HERE

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