Apple Store designer submits plans to redevelop Notre Dame with glass roof and spire

Notre Dame APple
The company behind the design of the Apple Store wants to rebuild Notre Dame using glass Credit: Eight Inc

The architect behind the Apple Store has submitted a proposal for the repair of Notre Dame including an all-glass roof replete with glass spire and saints.

The studio, Eight Inc, began working with Apple in 1999 and later built its flagship stores of white and glass spaces from 2001.

The French cathedral suffered a devastating fire in April, which destroyed much of its roof and the central spire.

While the French senate has called for the redesign to exactly mirror the lost building work, the studio believes this could be done with modern materials, rather than the traditional cathedral stone architecture.

The design would include structural glass, rather than standard glass, which the designer commented had an almost “luminous” quality.

Roof Apple Eight Inc
The cathedral would use a structural glass roof as a replacement material Credit: Eight Inc

France is currently considering whether to hold a design competition for the new roof, leading to several more unusual design suggestions including a space rocket launch pad and a roof that generates renewable energy.

“I believe this definitive example of French gothic architecture requires a deep respect and appreciation of the history and intent of the original design,” Tim Kobe, chief executive of Eight Inc told architecture website Dezeen.

Other designs have included calls for a giant rooftop pool and a greenhouse at the top of Notre Dame. 

The fire at Notre Dame prompted hundreds of millions of euros to be donated to restore the cathedral to its former glory.

Images of the blaze, which saw the famed spire collapse through the roof of the cathedral, shocked viewers in Paris and around the world.

Eight Inc notre dame design
There have been a number of outrageous designs for the roof Credit: Eight Inc

French President Emmanuel Macron initially expressed interest in an “inventive” new design for the cathedral, however leading architects in charge of the restoration have since said the cathedral should be rebuilt in an identical way.

The Telegraph's design critic Stephen Bayley wrote after the fire that there should at least be some originality in the new design.

“It would be a travesty to rebuild a badly damaged Notre-Dame as a facsimile of the original, not least because a great cathedral is a palimpsest established over time and it is quite impossible to establish exactly what 'original' means,” he wrote.

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