Rebuilding Notre Dame
Preservation Carpentry Instructor Michael Burrey was one of a handful of Americans invited to lend their traditional building skills to the restoration of the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris. Through a connection with , he traveled to France last spring to reconstruct the spire, along with Jackson Dubois of the Timber Framers Guild.
From May to July 2023,聽Michael and Jackson traveled to Thouars in western France, where they joined a crew of French artisans at Asselin, a company contracted to take of part of the restoration work. Their crew transformed French oak into the wooden railings, dormers, quatrefoils, trefoils and various decorative elements of the spire towering above the cathedral.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the pinnacle of my career,鈥 Michael says. 鈥淚 have such great appreciation for being able to be a part of the group effort that demonstrated that the traditional trades that built Notre Dame 800 years ago are still here, still viable and teachable and learnable for people today.鈥
Catch up with the recent news articles and video interviews featuring Michael’s work:
- 鈥 “Meet the 兔女郎直播 End teacher who helped restore the Notre Dame” (download a pdf of the article)
- 鈥 “Notre Dame previews restoration five years after fire”
- 鈥 “Meet the American Artisans Who Helped Resurrect Notre Dame Cathedral”
- 鈥 “A Plymouthean in Paris: This local craftsman helped restore Notre-Dame to its former glory”
- – “Plymouth artisan recalls assisting with restoration of Notre Dame Cathedral”