A square designed “like a clearing” to refresh visitors in summer, better access to the Seine, an underground car park transformed into a reception area: a few weeks before the reopening of Notre-Dame, the Paris town hall presented its project for the redevelopment of the surroundings of the cathedral.
The city is preparing to submit planning and building permits around the building to begin work in the fall of 2025, with a budget of 50 million euros. And three years later, in 2028, “give the cathedral the setting in which it will be able to shine, in a calm and peaceful environment”, promised PS mayor Anne Hidalgo. David Belliard, his deputy in charge of the transformation of public space, revealed some images of the future surroundings of Notre-Dame on the social network X.
Main challenge of the project: adapting the surroundings of the masterpiece of Gothic art, affected by a fire in 2019, to global warming. “This is the first question that we asked ourselves, so that this heritage legacy that we have received can be fully integrated into a 21st century city,” explained Anne Hidalgo during a press conference.
150 trees planted to queue in the shade
A city where summers are increasingly hot, and what’s more, on the very mineral square of the cathedral. “We are not going to change everything, we are part of a long history that we want to evolve to be more resilient to climate change”detailed Bas Smets, the Belgian landscape architect in charge of the project to develop the square, designed “ like a clearing.
In total, 150 trees will be planted on either side of the square, in particular to be able to organize queues in the shade in summer for visitors (12 to 15 million per year), specified Patrick Bloche, the first deputy.
On the square, a thin sheet of water measuring five millimeters will be activated occasionally “to refresh the air instantly by evaporation”, detailed Bas Smets. The square will remain a mineral floor, with limestone slabs of dimensions similar to those inside the cathedral.
Read also: What does the framework of Notre-Dame de Paris reveal about the construction of the cathedral?
The work will also tackle the underground areas of the square, with the transformation of the current car park, closed since the fire, into a reception area. A “large covered walk” of 3000 m2, describes Susanne Elisson, from the GRAU agency in charge of its development. Gone is the intermediate slab of the car park to make way for a bookstore, a café, toilets, etc. All connected to the archaeological crypt, located under the square.
“It will be like a Parisian passage” who will give “direct access to the banks of the Seine” below thanks to new openings, describes this architect. And will allow you to come out facing the cathedral “with a very close view of the building, as was the case in the Middle Ages”, she emphasizes.
Grid controversy
At the head of the cathedral, Square Jean-XXIII, completely turned upside down by the installation of the construction site base, will regain its original design (1848). And especially its gates, while the initial project wanted to remove them to make an open lawn, raising controversy.
In spring 2023, an online petition had collected more than 50,000 signatures, including that of TV host Stéphane Bern, to ask that this square, one of the oldest in the capital, be restored identically.
“The town hall heard us about maintaining the gates and I welcome it,” reacted to AFP Baptiste Gianeselli, initiator of the petition. “Square Jean-XXIII will remain closed, we have been generally heard”, added Didier Rykner, director of the site “La tribune de l’art”, another opponent of the initial project.
A new feature: the restored gates will create an opening that no longer exists today and “will allow you to go around the cathedral from the south”, said Ariel Weil, mayor of Paris Center.
As for the lawn of the square de l’Ile-de-France, at the tip of the Île de la Cité, which leads to the Memorial of the Martyrs of the Deportation, it will remain closed. But its grids will be offset for more vegetation. “We must ensure that the spirit of this place of contemplation remains away from the tumult of the city,” warns Baptiste Gianeselli.
