The inside story of Notre-Dame’s incredible reconstruction | Philippe Villeneuve

0:07You're listening to TED Talks Daily, where we bring you new ideas to spark your curiosity every day. I'm your host, Elise Hu. In a moment that stunned the world in 2019, the famed Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris went up in flames. In this talk, Philippe Villeneuve, the chief architect of Notre Dame's reconstruction, says that reviving the historic cathedral has been more than a rebuild. It's a blueprint for future restoration efforts. Drawing on time-honored techniques, Philippe shares how a team of craftspeople and experts came together to bring new life to this Gothic masterpiece. and what it took to help Notre Dame be reborn from the ashes.

0:54Come with me. Back in time. Today it is April 15, 2019. That was six years ago. We are a few days before Easter, on a late spring afternoon, We are in Paris on Hill de la Cité. Notre Dame Cathedral has been there for over eight centuries. The day is winding down and people are heading home from work. Nobody notices the smoke erasing from the spire of the cathedral. The time is around 6.13 p.m. Now, the smoke becomes more noticeable and people look up in disbelief. They watch the flames burning through the melting-lit roof. Night is falling and the flames illuminate the cathedral. Now, the huge plume of smoke fills the street.

2:02There is an accurate smell in the air. Some people start praying, others start chanting. Firefighters are now fighting a relentless battle. And then, the spire collapses into an inferno with a terrible crash.

2:31President Macron rushed on the seat. He changed his agenda for this moment to 70. Notre Dame was more important than politics. Not knowing the full extent of the damage, President Macron decided that the cathedral would be rebuilt in five years.

2:57Donations came from all sides, ranging from small to huge amounts. They reached the incredible total of 846 million euros. Why so much generosity? Well, ever since Victor Hugo published his novel Notre Dame de Paris in 1831, The cathedral was moved to the entire world. That was almost 200 years ago. Then the cathedral went from print to screen to stage. The silent film Esmeralda came out in 1905, followed by many more famous films. Disney made a cartoon character, Casemodo. Musicals were made about Notre Dame. Today, Notre Dame appears in many games and shows. People in every country are touched by Notre Dame.

4:02Incredibly, we may never have known Notre Dame. Since it was built in 1163, it has been the cathedral of records. It has the highest vaults ever built. Gigantic rose windows and a huge flying beltress. When completed, it was the tallest building in the Christian world. But after being a showcase of human genius, Notre Dame fell out of power. It fell out of fashion, cost too much, was vandalized by the French Revolution and became the temple of reason. Napoleon was crowned to pearl there in 1804, but the building was in very bad shape. Then, the cathedral was considered for demolition. This is when Victor Hugo published his novel, Notre Dame de Paris.

5:09It put the cathedral at the heart of France. It put its architecture at the heart of its culture. So it was decided that the building would be restored. The architect Viollet-le-Duc, my father, won the competition to restore Notre-Dame. He turned it into the building we know today. His other total, full-scale work, was to create the ideal cathedral imagined by the 19th century. Notre Dame continued its course. It came out in tact of World War I and World War II. It had funerals for presidents and national tributes. There was a ceremony after the daily terrorist attacks of 2015. Then came the fatal full day, April 15, 2019.

6:12The following day, I entered the cathedral in ruins. The light was harsh. The stone was a dark brown. Water was streaming down from the vaults. The floor was covered with burned wood. The chairs were scattered by the collapsing vaults. The altar was crushed. But the large golden cross was in the background. The statue of Virgin of the Pilar, Notre Dame de Paris, seemed untouched. Through a hole in the vault, molten lead had flowed into the end of the crest of the Pieta. That evening, I found the rooster that had crashed on the section of the roof. It escaped destruction. It had miraculously come off its axis when the spire collapsed.

7:16At that moment, I felt a determination that removed all doubt. It gave me a power and strength I didn't know I had. I always loved Notre Dame. I visited for the first time at age seven. I loved the symphony of stone and the harmony of light. For me, architecture and music became one that day. When I was 16, I saw an exhibition of the architect Violet Le Duc. From that day, I wanted to become chief architect of historical monument society. And why not? one day become the architect of Notre Dame. The dream came true in 2030, but six years later, in 2019, it became a nightmare. On that evening, on April 5th, I made up my mind to fight for Notre Dame.

8:29First, secure the seat, then supervised the reconstruction with a team of architects. The entire world was watching us. All were anxious to see the cathedral restored. We could not fail in the project of the century, le chantier du siècle. There was a spirit in the air, l 'esprit Notre-Dame. It was a unique mix of focus and joy, companionship and sharing. We were all working to save the cathedral, and we were proud to be part of this fantastic journey. I gained admiration and respect for these specialized tradespeople, this created bond that united all. 2 ,000 people were abusing themselves on this seat.

9:30We had to invent, design and implement ways to stabilize the building. Master carpenter, gloss worker, scaffolders, messons and rope access technicians worked together well. The garbals, pillar and height bay had to be shot up quickly. We had to prop up the 28 flying buttress and cover the vaults with tarps. We had to put nets in the nave, and the hide vaults had to be shot up too. We had to shot through the rubble. A cathedral made of steel was built inside the stone cathedral. The building was drawn in scaffolding. The most dangerous part was dismantling the melted scaffolding in the trancept.

10:27The scaffolding was there for restoration work before the fire. The scaffolders and the rope technicians made their way through the twisted metal. They had to dismantle the steel monster that could collapse. After days and nights of hard and dangerous work, they succeeded. Once the cathedral was stabilized, the work to rebuild it could finally start. The juveniles men followed in the footsteps of the builders of the Middle Ages. They had the same spirit, the same dexterity, and the same materials. The stained glass windows and the decorations became lively again. The walls and the vaults started to show the clear golden hue, of the stone again.

11:27Then an army of carpenters worked on the new framework. They used the same materials, the same tools, and the same gestures of old. The spire was erect again, and a new golden rooster was placed on top of it to protect the cathedral. The inside of the cathedral was like it had been under Viollil duque, bright and a soft yellow. The stained glass windows and the chapel were vivid again. The chandeliers were shining again. The sculpture had tried to place again. We had to grab a COVID pandemic, deal with pollution by lead, face bad weather, including heat waves, working under very trying conditions.

12:27Why, with all of this, the tradespeople, journalistsmen and architects worked with passion and expertise. Within the five years' deadline, they gave Notre Dame back to Paris, to France and to the world. Merci beaucoup. Thank you.

12:53That was Philippe Villeneuve at TED 2025. If you're curious about TED's curation, find out more at ted.com slash curationguidelines. And that's it for today's show. TED Talks Daily is part of the TED Audio Collective. This episode was produced and edited by our team, Martha Estefanos, Oliver Friedman, Brian Green, Lucy Little, Alejandra Salazar, and Tonsika Sarmanivon. It was mixed by Christopher Faze Bogan. Additional support from Emma Taubner and Daniela Ballarezzo. I'm Elise Hu. I'll be back tomorrow with a fresh idea for your feed. Thanks for listening.