ノートルダム大聖堂、遠い再建の道のり　火災から半年

【パリＡＦＰ＝時事】フランス・パリのノートルダム大聖堂が火災に見舞われた翌日の4月16日、エマニュエル・マクロン仏大統領は国営テレビで、国を象徴する文化財が破壊されたことに衝撃を受けている国民に向け、こう表明した。「大聖堂をさらに美しく再建する。5年以内に完成させたい」「われわれにはできる」（写真は大火災後の修復に向け、木製の枠組みが設置されたフランス・パリのノートルダム大聖堂）
　だが、１３世紀に建造された大聖堂の屋根や尖塔（せんとう）を崩落させた火災から半年過ぎ、再建のための道のりは当初の予想よりもはるかに複雑であることが明らかになってきている。
　作業員らは、屋根から溶け出した膨大な量の鉛や大聖堂周辺の汚染された地域の清掃を行っている。
　また、どのように再建するかについても意見が分かれている。多くの専門家は尖塔について以前と全く同じ形にすることを望んでいるが、マクロン氏は革新的なデザインを望んでいる。またマクロン氏は、２０２４年に開催されるパリ五輪に間に合うよう、同年春の再建完了を目指している。
　結局、再建よりも、火災で受けた損傷により今も崩壊の危険がある大聖堂の安全確保が優先されることになった。２０２０年末になってようやく安全確認が終了し、建築家らが大聖堂の再建案に取り掛かる。工事自体の着工は２０２１年になる見通しだ。
　■最終寄付総額は８億ユーロの見込み
　パリのミシェル・オプティ大司教は、「どのくらいの費用や期間がかかるのか」については現段階では言えないと述べた。
　最優先事項は、火災の前に行われていた改修工事で設置された重さ５００トンの足場が、円天井に及ぼす危険を取り除くことだ。足場のパイプ１本が落下しただけでも、取り返しのつかない損害が生じる可能性がある。足場の撤去作業には数か月かかるとみられている。
　火災後、個人や企業、特に仏企業が、大聖堂再建のための多額の寄付を申し出ている。この寄付については、実現に懸念もあった。
　だが、寄付を呼び掛けている団体のコンソーシアムによると、既に６億１６００万ユーロ（約７３０億円）以上が実際に振り込まれているまたは確定しており、最終的な寄付総額は８億ユーロ（約９５０億円）に上る見込みだ。
　ノートルダム大聖堂を愛する観光客や建築愛好家、信者らがこの歴史的建造物を再び訪れることができるようになるまでには、しばらく時間がかかりそうだ。
　火災で最初に避難指示が出された際に大聖堂の中にいた信者のミシェル・シュバリエさん（７０）は、「親をなくし、喪に服している気分だ」「どうにか祈りを続けているが、前と同じではない」と語った。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2019/10/16-08:39）

One day after the blaze that scarred Notre-Dame, President Emmanuel Macron addressed a nation in shock at the damage to one of its great cultural landmarks, with a promise that rang as clearly as the peal of the cathedral's bells.
We will rebuild the cathedral even more beautifully and I want it to be finished within five years, Macron said on national television on the evening of April 16, 2019.
And we can do it, he added.
But six months after the April 15 fire that tore through the roof of the 13th-century Paris cathedral and toppled its spire, the reconstruction process is shaping up to be much more complex than many anticipated.
Workers have had to clean up significant quantities of lead that melted from the roof and contaminated areas around the cathedral, with critics saying the authorities were slow to warn the public of the risks.
There remains no consensus on how the cathedral should look after reconstruction, with many experts wanting the spire to be rebuilt exactly like the original, and Macron arguing for an innovative solution.
Above all, the process of securing an edifice still at risk of collapse after the fire damage has taken precedence over any reconstruction.
It is only at the end of 2020 that a complete check will allow architects to work out how to restore the cathedral. No reconstruction is expected to start before 2021.
- 'Not scaremongering' -
It is impossible at this stage to say how much this is going to cost, how long this is going to last, said Michel Aupetit, the archbishop of Paris.
Macron's five-year goal would see the cathedral's reconstruction completed in the spring of 2024, before Paris hosts the Olympic Games that year.
The top priority is to eliminate any risk to the vaulted ceiling, with the main danger coming from 500 tonnes of scaffolding that was erected around the fire for renovation work before the blaze.
The damage caused by just a single bar of scaffolding falling could prove irreparable, and the work to remove the structure will take several months.
This is not scare-mongering. It is a physical reality, said Christophe-Charles Rousselot, director general of the Fondation Notre-Dame, the charity that is overseeing the gathering of donations to the cathedral.
With regards to the spire, a late addition to the mediaeval cathedral designed by the 19th-century French architect Eugene Viollet-le-Duc, many see it as an integral part of the building.
It needs to be rebuilt as it was before, said Philippe Villeneuve, the architect in charge of restoring the cathedral, arguing that the sheer power of the spire integrated it with the mediaeval church.
His is backed by Viollet-le-Duc's descendants and, according to opinion polls, the French public.
But the government has left open the possibility of an international competition for architects to design something new.
- 'I feel orphaned' -
Experts are also intensively researching the precise original architecture of the cathedral, so that when reconstruction begins it is as accurate as possible.
Before 2010, we only have old-style surveys, plans that have been redrawn on numerous occasions which are very partial and very imprecise, said Remi Fromont, one of the architects responsible for the site who is working on drawing up accurate plans.
Andrew Tallon, a Belgium-born scholar who died aged 49 in November 2018, carried out hugely valuable laser scans of the interior in 2010 that have proved an even more valuable legacy than he could have imagined.
We know that we will have shortcomings. Not all the chapels were systematically scanned. There are still areas of doubt, Fromont said.
In the aftermath of the fire, private individuals and above all rich French cooperations rushed to pledge hundreds of millions for the rebuilding of the cathedral.
There were concerns whether this funding would ever be realised.
But France's richest man Bernard Arnault in September signed a formal accord over his pledge of 200 million euros ($220 million), as did the Pinault family for their promised 100 million euros.
A signing on another 100 million promised by the oil giant Total is awaited in October.
The consortium of fundraising groups behind the drive believes that 800 million euros ($890,000) can be raised in total, with over 616 million euros now either transferred or pledged.
But lovers of the historic masterpiece, be they tourists, architecture buffs or worshippers, may have to wait some time before Notre-Dame becomes theirs again.
I have felt myself orphaned, it is like being in mourning, said Michele Chevalier, 70, a regular at Notre-Dame who was at the service when the first evacuation took place.
I still manage to pray, but it's not the same.