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Post-fire restoration of historic buildings and implications for Notre-Dame de Paris

Nature Materials volume 19, pages 817–820 (2020)Cite this article

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The restoration of fire-damaged historical monuments entails a wide range of scientific questions. Taking as a starting point the case of Notre-Dame de Paris, this Comment defines the materials science challenges of post-fire restoration, and also briefly outlines the issues of structural integrity, fire safety and preservation ethics.

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Fig. 1: Notre-Dame de Paris, 22 July 2019.

Patrick Zachmann/Magnum Photos/Keystone

Fig. 2: Notre-Dame de Paris, 25 June 2019.

Patrick Zachmann/Magnum Photos/Keystone

Fig. 3: Notre-Dame de Paris, 26 June 2019.

Patrick Zachmann/Magnum Photos/Keystone

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Physical Chemistry of Building Materials, Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Ylenia Praticò, John Ochsendorf, Stefan Holzer & Robert J. Flatt

  2. Department of Architecture, MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA

    John Ochsendorf

  3. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA

    John Ochsendorf

  4. Building Archaeology and Construction History, Deptartment of Architecture, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Stefan Holzer

Authors
  1. Ylenia Praticò
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  2. John Ochsendorf
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  3. Stefan Holzer
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  4. Robert J. Flatt
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Correspondence to Robert J. Flatt.

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Praticò, Y., Ochsendorf, J., Holzer, S. et al. Post-fire restoration of historic buildings and implications for Notre-Dame de Paris. Nat. Mater. 19, 817–820 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-020-0748-y

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