On October 17th, Handshouse spanned Liberty St in Ann Arbor, MI to raise our Notre-Dame Project truss!
As the morning sun crested over the Ann Arbor Arts Center and illuminated a truck piled high with white oak timbers, Handshouse participants got to work reassembling the full-scale Notre-Dame Project choir truss replica once again. There are times when a project seems to be driven by forces beyond what we understand, helping it come together against odds that otherwise make a project seem insurmountable. This Ann Arbor truss exhibition was one of those projects.
The whole idea for the event was started by Luke Barnett of the Sam Beauford Woodworking Institute in Adrian, MI and Brenda Baker of the Timber Framers Guild, who together began brewing the idea at the Timber Framers Guild conference in 2023. Luke Barnett had invited Handshouse to Adrian for a workshop and exhibition of the Notre-Dame Project in the spring of 2023, so the full-scale truss was still stored in Michigan. The 2024 Timber Framers Guild Conference was slated to be in Ann Arbor, so timber framers from all over the US would already be coming to Michigan. Amongst the crowd of makers coming to Ann Arbor were many of the talented American carpenters who worked on the restoration of Notre-Dame in France, coming to the conference to be together and share stories about their work. Reassembling the Handshouse: Notre-Dame Project’s full-scale truss as a hands-on demonstration for the public seemed like a perfect way to celebrate this historic international collaboration of timber framing.
From Left to Right: Pete Baker, Luke Barnett and Marie Brown working out final details before the truss was lifted. Photo by Doug Coombe
Jennifer Queen, Executive Director of the Ann Arbor Art Center and Ann Arbor City Councilor looking out over the truss assembly team filling Liberty St in front of the Art Center gallery. Photo by Doug Coombe
But talking about exhibiting a giant timber frame truss designed to hold the roof of a huge cathedral and actually making it happen are very different things. The many participants who have taken part in the 6 previous Notre-Dame truss exhibitions can testify to the fact that putting that 8000-lb pile of timbers into the air is not something that should be “taken lightly.”
And this is where it seemed this particular exhibition took on a life of its own. The idea just kept attracting positive go-getters that wouldn’t give up at bringing the idea to fruition. One was Pete Baker of Lower Town Cafe and Bar, who grew up going to Timber Framers Guild events and personally knows the power of a community timber raising. When he jumped on board to this idea, his community-inspiring capacity made him a priceless local champion. Pete also invited Jennifer Queen, Executive Director of the Ann Arbor Art Center and Ann Arbor City Councilor, to join in with the project. Together, they worked to pave the ambitious vision of raising the truss in the middle of downtown Ann Arbor.
Another local hero, Ethan Higgins of Roof Jumper Timber Frames, brought his enduring spirit to this formidable job. Ethan was well prepared for this adventure; he had participated in 2021 Notre-Dame Project workshop building the full-scale truss replica in Washington, DC and helped Sophie Linnell lead the reassembly of the truss at the Great Lakes Woodworking Festival in Adrian, MI in 2023. So, when he got excited about raising the truss in Ann Arbor, he brought a knowledgeable set of eyes and ears to the ground. Ethan helped take on all kinds of local footwork, from scouting out raising locations to walking a site late after work with a 100 ft tape measure and cell phone in hand. Ethan was a critical part of pulling off this event, constantly talking through ideas with Executive Director Marie Brown and Assistant Director Eva Carter, seeing this raising through to the finish line.
Ethan Higgins (center) from Roof Jumper Timber Framers and volunteers from the Sam Beauford Woodworking Institute working together to piece together and raise a full-scale replica of Notre-Dame choir truss #6. Photo by Doug Coombe
Left to Right: Kevin Diffin, Marie Brown, Laura Brown, Rick Brown, volunteer crane operators John Hartwell, Tim Ganton, and Lee Graham of the Operating Engineers: Local 324 and Brian Gillette of Alta Equipment Company in front of the 65T Tadano all-terrain Crane he donated for the raising.
This intrepid group of collaborators took on shutting down a crowded city street to assemble and lift an 8100 lb truss with a joyful surrender that never let the countless chances for something to halt the whole production in its tracks ever stop them. Right when it felt like it was just too absurd to pull off one piece of the puzzle or another, one person would announce they had just reached out and inspired some other amazing person to step in to make that piece happen.
Jenn Queen, Debra Williams, and other Ann Arbor City officials worked generously with Marie, Eva, and Handshouse Board Chair Nat Crosby to develop a raising plan that met all the fire and Right of Way requirements thrown at them, securing the project the street closure permits we needed in record time.
When our reassembly and raising leader had to back out of the job, Pete Baker reached out to Brian Gillette of the Alta Equipment Company who generously donated the use of a beautiful 65T Tadano all-terrain crane for the day! Brian introduced us to John Hartwell from the Operating Engineers Local 324 union, who volunteered to lead the rigging and raising with an excellent team of volunteer crane drivers. They also introduced us to David Farrell from Lifting Gear Hire, who donated the large scale rigging we needed to safely lift the truss. Ethan Higgins, already fully committed to the project, agreed to step up to the job of leading the truss reassembly, working with Marie to take on this ambitious and high-precision raising. Ethan brought his company trailer full of the necessary tools and a fellow timber framer, Noah Isreal of Quercus Carpentry, to come help.
Luke Barnett also brought in a truck load of essential equipment and called in a team of talented volunteers from the Sam Beauford Woodworking Institute to piece back together the beloved truss. And when the truck driver Ethan had generously lined up bailed only hours before the event was due to start, Luke jumped at the problem and hired a new driver to get the truss to Liberty St by morning.
Pete Baker also connected us with local photographer Doug Coombe who came and took the beautiful photos features in this post. Medievalist, Notre-Dame Project historian, and Art History Professor from Penn State, Dr. Lindsay Cook, joined Marie in presenting a slide presentation about Notre-Dame to the public at the Ann Arbor Art Center. Jackson Dubois, Timber Framers Guild Executive Director and Handshouse: Notre-Dame Project representative who took part in the official reconstruction of Notre-Dame de Paris in France, also came to join Handshouse Studio co-founders Laura Brown and Rick Brown in answering questions about the project with spectators watching the replica reassembly team at work.
The simple truth is that this raising would not have been possible if we did not have each and every person who stepped in to offer their hearts, hands, skills, resources, and connections to make it happen. Each and every person who was involved faced some potential gap and did what it took to find, get, or make a way to fill it just in time for the freight train of this truss to roll onward and upward.
Raising a timber frame as an educational demonstration is not a particularly practical endeavor. Some might ask. “What is the point of all the effort for something so temporary?” Asking such sensible questions is not a bad idea. Its an enormous amount of work!
(Left) Noah Israel of Quercus Carpentry and Luke Barnett, Executive Director the Sam Beauford Woodworking Institute, aligning a tie tenon with the rafter mortise. Photo by Doug Coombe
Marie Brown, Kevin Diffin, and Noah Isreal check the angle of the >6000 lb base timber to ensure the truss assembly would come together in the exact and only location it would fit for its exhibition on Liberty St in Ann Arbor, MI. Photo by Doug Coombe
Sometimes putting together a timber frame that has sat disassembled in pieces; twisting and checking, is tricky. Sometimes things can use the help of a little mechanical advantage to come together. Photo by Doug Coombe
Handshouse’s 1:10 scale white oak model of “La Forêt,” Notre-Dame’s intricate timber roof structure, was on display at the Ann Arbor Arts Center for public viewing October 17th-18th. This work-in-progres model has been built by participants around the country as part of the on going La Forêt Model Project
Why raise a Notre-Dame truss replica in the street for a day? Because of the community, connection and curiosity that it inspires.
We wanted to celebrate that members of our community—American carpenters—were invited to help with the reconstruction of Notre-Dame de Paris. This international collaboration is an example of global camaraderie, a historic demonstration of the value of craftspeople, and an exhibition of the need for physical repair of a shared piece of world heritage. The Notre-Dame Project seems to deeply inspire all kinds of people. Getting to even be a small part of this story feeds a need so many of us feel: to be rejuvenated by the energy of a physical community endeavor.
We all need to be part of things that extend us beyond ourselves. We need to be part of our world; right here today, right here with a community. We need to be in conversation with one another. We need to be in action with our bodies. We need to be physically present in the world we live in; in dialogue with our history, our present, and our future. We all want to honor and celebrate all of these things and be part of something meaningful.
Events like this create opportunities for those conversations through the physical action of making something meaningful together. Connections can be made through sharing the process of problem-solving together, imagining things beyond our individual reach, and working to create solutions to make them happen. Each person brings their own set of skills and perspective and find a place in the community where they are valued in their specific capacity to complete the task. We can come together unafraid to ask questions, unashamed to listen to each other’s ideas, eager to offer our minds and our muscles to help carry the load, and willing to both give and take the lead for a while.
In this way, the absurd and irrational act of putting together thousands of pounds of wood for a few hour exhibition in the middle of a city street can be very worth the effort. Assembling timbers that were hand-picked and harvested, then hand-cut with careful intention based on hand-drawings of a structure hand-made centuries ago can connect strangers working side by side, neighbors living oceans apart, and humans living across different moments of history.
Want Handshouse to create more opportunities like one? Make the next project possible!
Back row: Ethan Higgins, Marie Brown, Front Row: Rick Brown, Scott MacInnis, four volunteers from Sam Beauford Woodworking Institute (we would love to name you all!), Pete Baker, Luke Barnett, Laura Brown, Brenda Baker, and Jennifer Queen stand in front of the Notre-Dame Project truss replica they raised together in the streets of Ann Arbor, MI. Image credits: Doug Coombe Image credits: Doug Coombe
