The images of the blazing roof truss of Notre-Dame de Paris that went around the world on 15 April 2019 elicited great sympathy; the historic building is considered one of France’s most important monuments and has been inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1991.
France’s President Emmanuel Macron had set an ambitious deadline for reconstruction, but the hundreds of people who were involved can be more than proud of their intensive work to rebuild the cathedral, and Emmanuel, the largest bell in the bell tower, is ringing out again after five years: Notre-Dame de Paris has reopened its doors and is welcoming visitors.
A company from Austria is helping to light up the interior of the cathedral; the Zumtobel Group AG has been tasked with illuminating the vault of the central nave and the transept. The lighting designer Patrick Rimoux is not short of experience in lighting ecclesiastical buildings and has been working with Zumtobel’s office in Paris for years, so expertise from Austria was brought to bear here as well.
One particular challenge with this project was that working on a listed building meant leaving the drill in the toolbox, while another issue involved the adaptability of the light to various scenarios; it had to be possible to change the colour and temperature of the light depending on whether a mass, a concert or some other event was taking place in the cathedral. The lighting solution that will meet these requirements in every degree has been created with 54 powerful but energy-saving projectors that are controlled from the sacristy.
The Zumtobel Group’s expertise from Austria is thus playing its part in the cathedral’s lighting design, ensuring there will be many brilliant moments to come.

© Julio Piatti

© Julio Piatti

© Julio Piatti
© Julio Piatti