“You may recall a variety of wackadoodle proposals, alternatives to the rebuilding, that circulated online after the fire, including one to put a swimming pool on the roof, another to replace Viollet-le-Duc’s spire with a chubby, gold-leaf, carbon-fiber sculpture of a flame, which looked vaguely like the logo for a chicken wings franchise in Colorado.”

“None of them, as far as I recall, recognized the building as a religious shrine.”

“They arose because France’s prime minister hastily floated the prospect of an international competition to reimagine the damaged top of the cathedral, which opened the social media floodgates for predictable insanity.”

– Michael Kimmelman,
NY Times, Dec 5, 2024,
“A Miracle: Notre-Dame’s Astonishing Rebirth From the Ashes”