It seems like proposals to restore the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris came pouring in before the blaze that destroyed its spire and roof was even extinguished. Grappling with devastating damage to a historic and architectural icon, observers around the world immediately began to debate whether the cathedral should be recreated as faithfully as possible in its former image (a serious challenge, considering the contemporary lack of massive old-growth timber) or radically reimagined.

One notable proposal released by Studio NAB takes the latter approach with a visionary reconstruction symbolizing rebirth, new growth and hope for the future. The design recreates Notre Dame’s silhouette in a framework of gold-tone steel and glass, transforming the uppermost levels of the church into a lush greenhouse, an active community space and an educational facility. A new “arrow” spire would house apiaries, producing on a large scale “the honey of Notre Dame de Paris.” The rest of the cathedral beneath this new roof would remain as it has always looked and functioned.

It’s a direct rebuke of the idea that we can or should attempt to recapture the past, adapting instead and acknowledging the need to change along with the world around us.

“On this fire and in the period of crisis that the country and the world are currently going through, we have the chance to build a place of reference where conservation, enrichment of an exceptional heritage and taken into account the challenges of societies ecology and equal opportunities. Protecting the living being reintroducing biodiversity, educating consciences and being in solidarity, all are symbols, faithful to the values of France and those of the church, that we could defend and promote for this project.”

“This is the symbol of acceptance of the course of history and the metaphorical illustration that this ‘forest’ became burnt wood, can serve as a cradle to the new vegetation,” say the architects. “The design will feed the all-important conversation and add an element of reflection as to how the building could be transformed to focus on issues concerning today’s society. The greenhouse is imagined as a place to enable to professional reintegration of the poor by learning urban agriculture, horticulture and permaculture while connecting children to nature and educating them through workshops.”

It’s an interesting way to approach the problem of restoration, and one that will undoubtedly stir controversy. But Studio NAB’s proposal creates a ghostly yet optimistic memory of the lost parts of the cathedral, maintaining the silhouette to which Paris has grown so accustomed, without introducing any garishly contrasting contemporary elements. You can safely bet that proposals recalling Daniel Libeskind’s highly controversial Royal Ontario Museum Extension are forthcoming, along with calls to be far more conservative, using modern technology like engineered wood to replace the burned beams and reinforce damaged structural elements.

Though it comes early in the game, Studio NAB’s proposal will likely end up looking like a compromise between these two extremes by the time France’s competition to redesign Notre Dame selects its winner.

Looking as much like a mad science laboratory as a conservator’s dream workshop, this pigment library is populated with color samples from around the world, all helping preservationists maintain and restore historical works of art and design.

The Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies at the Harvard Art Museums puts is jars, bottles and glasses on display for the public to see in glass cabinetry, but also uses them like a witch doctor would employ esoteric medicines. An analogy could also be drawn to seed vaults, which likewise store and preserve precious and sensitive materials for future use.

From Colossal, “The Forbes pigment collection was started by its namesake—Straus Center founder and former Fogg Art Museum Director Edward Forbes who began the collection at the turn of the 20th century. Forbes would collect his samples from his travels all over the world, bringing back pigments from excavated sites at Pompeii to rare lapis lazuli found in Afghanistan.”

Forbes became interested in preservation when a 14th-Century piece he purchased began to visibly fade, sparking him to learn more about the materials and processes around paintings and their preservation.

The origins of the various colors are often stories in themselves, from modern synthetics to obscure organics, like an ‘Indian Yellow’ made from the urine of cows fed only mango leaves. (Images via Peter Vanderwarker, Zak Jensen and Andrea Shea/WBUR)

These artistic wraps, scrims and scaffolds creatively conceal the ugly truth of building construction, remediation and restoration.

Illusion of justice? OK, that was too easy but restoring the United States Supreme Court Building was anything but. Designed by Cass Gilbert, the building’s classical marble facade has fronted the inner workings of the SCOTUS since 1935. The white Vermont Imperial Danby marble has aged gracefully for the most part but after 75 years of Washington weathering, a comprehensive restoration of the columned West Facade was deemed necessary… and it was going to get messy. What to do?

The solution employed by Rockville-based Forrester Construction Co. was a clever combination of inner rigid scaffolding wrapped in a decorative scrim depicting a photo of the facade in its forecasted finished state. Derived from practices commonly used in Europe, the scrim kept the dirty work of cleaning and restoring the facade under an attractive cover for the better part of two years, being removed upon the project’s completion in late 2013.

Dutch Treat

Sometimes less is more and conversely, more may seem like less. That was the case on Kettingstraat in The Hague, when Dutch architecture office Archipelontwerpers installed a Gehry-esque golden scrim to camouflage restoration and renovation work. Who’s going to notice the construction with a shimmering curtain of gold to distract their eyes?

Meat-Wrapping District

In 2012 when the Whitney Museum of American Art dedicated a retrospective to 83-year-old Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama, they decided to promote it in a big way. Take “Yellow Trees”, a building-sized art installation doubling as a practical scaffolding scrim on West 14th Street at 9th Avenue, near the Whitney‘s new location in NYC’s trendy Meatpacking District.

OZ-some!

Sydney Town Hall was an Australian showpiece when it opened in 1889 but over a century’s worth of grime can’t be removed in a day or for a dollar. It took $33 million and quite a few days, in fact, and the use of a custom 30m (66ft) tall scrim for the clock tower and 20m (44ft) tall screens for the front facade helped preserve the old gal’s dignity while her cosmetics were being applied.

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Wrap It Up 10 Creative Building Scrims Scaffolds

For 500 years, visitors were able to see Michelangelo’s famous 6,000-square-foot painting bathed in natural light, but for the last 3 decades they have gotten a dismal view, the room shuttered and lit by weak halogens – but all of that is about to change. For the first time since outside light was blocked by the Vatican (or, in some regards, since the painting was first created) its 5,000,000 annual viewers will have a clearer-than-day look at this amazing ceiling-spanning classic.

Thanks to Osram, a German light manufacturer, the new lighting strategy being deployed will not just rival but actually exceed the capabilities of sunlight, casting color as well as illumination, all without damaging this seminal work.

The design had to take into account the complex three-dimensional nature of the space while also using out-of-the-way crevices and architectural details as places to tuck in the lights.

Carefully attuned the actual color spectrum showcased in the work, the array of thousands of LEDs will greatly enhance the visitor experience beyond previous rehabilitation attempts. Meanwhile, since LEDs do not emit energy in the UV band, the frescos will be protected from decay associated with other kinds of light exposure. Also, they will last far longer than conventional lights, making the solution more durable and robust.

America’s urban firehouses combine form with function in solidly-built structures, making them ideal candidates for respectful residential restoration.

Anderson’s Coop

(image via: Daytonian In Manhattan/Alice Lum)

Architect Franklin Baylis, designer of the 1906-vintage Fire Patrol House #2 in New York City’s Greenwich Village, would no doubt be pleased to see his original work revealed after so many years. Bland and unappealing painting, re-painting and over-painting had obscured the firehouse facade’s intricate detailing but all that would change when media celeb Anderson Cooper bought the building for $4.3 million and embarked on an extensive (and doubtless expensive) restoration.

(images via: Curbed)

The term “restoration” shouldn’t be taken literally – Cooper was looking to LIVE in the building, not fight fires from it. Even so, the new owner of the 8,240-square-foot former firehall at 84 West 3rd Street intends to restore the old fireman’s gymnasium for his personal use and although the front garage door is now black, the station’s iconic bust of Mercury is looking pretty good for a dude going on 108!

Newport Renews

(images via: H + A)

The town of Newport, Rhode Island was founded in 1639, which makes the historic Hose 8 firehouse one of the burg’s newer structures. When structural issues appeared to consign the late nineteenth century building to the wrecker’s ball, Boston-based Hacin + Associates architecture and design firm stepped in with an intriguing plan: completely dismantle the three-story firehouse and rebuild it, brick by brick, with a flexible modern interior suitable for homeowners. Upon completion of the three-year-long project, The Newport Restoration Foundation awarded H + A the Doris Duke Preservation Award honoring the firm’s “heroic efforts to save a building that would have otherwise been lost”.

Ravenswood; You Would Too

(image via: Your Windy City Guide)

Chicago Fire anyone? The Windy City found itself chock-a-block with redundant firehouses in the late 1950s when the many competing private fire protection companies were absorbed by the municipal government. Some, like the restored Ravenswood beauty above, found themselves in revitalized residential neighborhoods where their form took precedence over their former function.

(images via: Hall Of Flame, StrawStickStone/Cragin Spring and Chicago Scanner)

In its previous life, the structure was Patrol #8 of the Chicago Fire Insurance Patrol. Listed for $1,275,000 in 2006 (just before the national financial crisis clobbered the housing market), the cozy firehall features two bedrooms, two baths, a wine cellar and an expansive first floor formerly reserved for parking fire engines. The building looked almost naked without its current covering of ivy, though the “before” photo above from StrawStickStone does reveal some of its architectural highlights.

San Francisco Treat

(images via: Zillow)

Give my regards to Broad Street… San Francisco that is! Operating from 1896 to 1974, Firehouse 33 enjoyed an eventful life that included the Great San Francisco Earthquake when it was just a decade old. These days, the station does double duty as a two bedroom/2 bathroom home and a working business: the San Francisco Fire Engine Tours & Adventures company – it even has a 1955 red Mack Truck fire engine parked in the garage. Kiss those traffic jams goodbye!

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Hose To Home 10 Reverently Restored Firehouses