NARRATIVE – The author of “By the force of trees” is one of the hundreds of French and foreign craftsmen and companions who restored the roof of the cathedral by cutting beams for the new frame for months in an Anjou forest, then by participating in its installation. It recounts this unique material and spiritual experience.
This article comes from Figaro Magazine
“Let’s rebuild the Forest. With an axe. »The mission order was contradictory, but sounded like a departure. It was about reproducing « feu » the framework of Notre-Dame. The one we called the ” Forest “ was nothing but ashes. The cut oak forest, tangled according to the art of French linework, the one which had remained intact for 800 years, a primary Gothic forest, had gone up in smoke.
Was it a stroke of genius? The contemporary gesture: an ancestral gesture. In century 21, in the age of emptiness, speed and virtuality, it was necessary, with green wood, men and axes, to restore a framework from century 12. The architects were visionaries. Wood more than other materials. The project management was determined. By hand rather than digital. The clergy gave their blessing. Souls rather than robots. The project was crazy. I was voluntary.
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