From rooftop pool to parking: Notre Dame reconstruction ideas that will haunt you

While the public contest for the reconstruction of the ruined roof of Notre Dame is under way, designers, dabblers, and trolls are having a field day envisioning the future of the restored cathedral.

Take a swim with the apostles

Stockholm-based Ulf Mejergren Architects (UMA) have proposed a cross-shaped pool covering the cathedral’s entire roof. Mojitos and bikinis in the shade of the statues of the 12 apostles is a fun idea for those not daunted by the prospect of incurring divine wrath. The designers clearly aren’t.

Quasimodo’s well-earned penthouse

Aptly-named Who Cares Design has envisioned this rooftop villa for Quasimodo, the fictional character of Victor Hugo’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame. He has earned it after years starring in rock operas and Disney cartoons, after all.

Holy parking

Irish architectural technologist Rob Cross has decided to crank up the absurdity and visualized (after the initial idea was shared on Twitter) what the new Notre Dame roof would look like if rebuilt by North Americans. With Paris’ traffic jams and never enough parking space, might as well use every opportunity for a new multi-level parking.

Notre McDame

In keeping with the American theme, the armchair architects of Reddit couldn’t stand aside. As the ultimate merging of French and US cultural icons, one user has proposed a bright-red roof with a proud McDonald’s arched ‘M’ symbol on top.

Crosses to windmills

After the solar-paneled glass-walled garden project by French design bureau Vincent Callebaut Architectures went viral, a simpler solution for the eco-friendly believer has surfaced online: just stick a giant windmill generator in place of Notre Dame’s collapsed spire.

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