Spire of Notre-Dame de Paris

A 1:100 scale steel model of the inner oak structure of the spire of Notre-Dame, which burned down in 2019.

I initially designed this model using Rhino for my minor university project, informed by the original drawings of the architect Viollet-le-Duc. Using this CAD model, I was able to calculate the angles I would need to cut into the steel bar in order to recreate the tapered octagonal shape of the spire in the finished piece.

Each component was cut to size using a horizontal bandsaw, so that I could accurately set the angles that had to be cut into the steel. An induction heater was used to heat up the steel so that I could bend elements such as the archways into shape by hand. The model was finally assembled by TIG welding it together and finished by hammering and blackening.