Modern Concepts for Notre-Dame's Reconstruction | Hacker News Reader

Modern Concepts for Notre-Dame's Reconstruction

mymodernmet.com

11 pointscryo11 comments

"Though acknowledging the difficulties of balancing the old and the new, most seem in agreement that the church needs to move forward with the times, just as it did when construction was necessary in the past."

Is there any crime against art and beauty that can't be laundered with "move forward with the times"?

I'm fine with the spire redesigns, but why do all these have glass roofs‽ You're either going to be illuminating a stone vault, or you're going to be blowing out the rose window effect and turning the cathedral into a greenhouse.

If you have to be modern than plate the roof with recycled solar cells for that deep blue gem effect.

Why do we need to reinvent Notre-Dame? Why not just rebuild it as it was, accurately matching the original design?

The spire was rebuilt in the 19th century because the old one had fallen apart. As far as I can tell from Wikipedia, it was a replica of the original one.

As for why people are talking about redesigning it? I think this is down to Europe's rejection of classical art and craftsmanship, whereas in the United States, imitating classical art remains popular. That's what American 2D animation studios such as Disney did, for example. The only art school in Italy that teaches Renaissance painting techniques was set up by Americans. Go figure.

To a European who views himself as a cosmopolitan with sophisticated tastes, creating such pastiches is seen as vulgar and even grotesque. The past must be rejected. Post-modernism, abstract art and oddly shaped buildings, is where it's at now.

I'm from Europe myself and I reject this bizarre way of thinking and admire the old masters. Judging by all the hideous architecture being created, however, I am swimming against the current.

TL;DR: Snobbery.

Personally I think there is nothing more snobbish than post-modern art. It is quite literally designed to insult, confuse, befuddle, and humiliate the observer. Not to say there aren't fabulous works of post modern art, usually the earlier works. But, sadly, I think most of it is genuinely horrible.

That s no longer a gothic cathedral. And considering that it's not a public building like the reichstag, what's the point of doing that modernist crap in a museum that is famous for itself. Norman Foster is 83 years old, and i think his ideas have gotten old too, like this yawn-inducing greenhouse. At least it could be something novel.

> And considering that it's not a public building

It is, in fact, a public building of the French State.

Right, not a government building then. Its main use is being a tourist attraction.

The notre dame belongs to a traditional institution. It should be reconstructed exactly the same as before, not by the modern aesthetics of people who don't even attend church.

I keep trying to bet people $5 that the new design will be a revolutionary steel and glass penisoid.

No ones taking me up.

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