Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris is being restored to its former glory with the help of Building Information Modelling (BIM) after it was damaged in a catastrophic fire in April 2019.
By the time the blaze was extinguished the spire of the famous building had collapsed and most of its roof had been destroyed with severe damage to the upper walls.
The public establishment dedicated to the conservation and restoration of Notre-Dame de Paris has announced an official patronage with global software provider Autodesk.
Autodesk is contributing design and construction technology solutions, including BIM support, an intelligent data and geometry 3D modelling process, and technical expertise.
The use of BIM creates a historical digital record for increased resiliency for future events and restoration, as well as providing a central repository for all project information so all permitted stakeholders may have access to the latest data and plans.
Data created using reality capture technologies prior to the fire enabled Autodesk to create a 3D BIM model of the Notre-Dame Cathedral as it existed before the blaze. Autodesk then used recent reality capture scans to create 3D models post-fire for comparison.
Autodesk created 3D digital visualisation depicting the Notre-Dame from multiple angles and sun positioning.
“I warmly thank Autodesk for supporting the rebirth of Paris Notre-Dame Cathedral,” said the Army General Jean-Louis Georgelin, president of the public establishment dedicated to the conservation and restoration of Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral.
“Using digital technologies designed for the supervision and management of the restoration site is essential for the public institution. Thanks to Autodesk’s patronage, the use of cutting-edge design and construction technologies and BIM, are being leveraged to help prepare for the reopening of the cathedral, and to once again welcome both pilgrims and visitors.”
Nicolas Mangon, Autodesk vice president of business strategy for architecture, engineering and construction design solutions, said: “We are humbled to participate in the restoration and future preservation of the Notre-Dame Cathedral, a truly magnificent architectural wonder of the world. Since the devasting fire two years ago, we have provided funding and technology to support the effort through the French Fondation du Patrimoine (Heritage Foundation) and this announcement reinforces our commitment.”