The team led by Belgian architect Bas Smets won the competition for the redesign of the churchyard including the design of a new square and an underground visitor center
It will be a show. It has always been, Notre Dame, but after the facelift (following the devastating fire of April 15, 2019) it will become an even more amazing place and above all suitable for Parisians and tourists, in short, anyone who loves Paris.
A few days ago the city hall unveiled plans to redesign the area around the cathedral, a project that includes the site’s new landscaping and an underground visitor center.
After the announcement – last September – of the four finalist teams, the competition was won by the group led by the landscape architect Bas Smets, accompanied by the GRAU studio for the architectural project and by the Neufville-Gayet studio for the heritage section.
The new square is conceived as a perfectly rectangular space equal in size to the plan of the Cathedral, capable of highlighting the eastern facade of Notre-Dame. The project, whose construction will begin in 2024, will provide ample space for greenery and create an internal promenade in the former parking lot below the square.
The trees surrounding the new plaza will provide shaded seating for locals and tourists alike, while a thin 5mm-high layer of water cascades down to cool the plaza in hot weather.
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