Hey, Macron: Don’t you dare modernize Notre Dame!

04/23/2019

On Tuesday night, the president incautiously stated that a "more beautiful" ­cathedral would be rebuilt "in five years," to general incredulity. More beautiful than what? And had Macron turned structural engineer overnight?

Preposterous "concept drawings" appeared almost immediately on social media. A twisted concrete spire in pure Dubai style. A transparent roof with plate-glass windows, more suited to an elevated railroad station. And worse.

Fury ensued. We French wanted our cathedral back, not some megalomaniac statement by a publicity-hungry architect eager to make his mark on Notre Dame.

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