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New Materiality for the Passage Notre Dame
Last Updated: 2026-02-05 16:01:13
Abstract
The workshop aims at developing low carbon and long lasting materials for the renovation of the passage Notre Dame.
Objective
Students will work to develop materials from on-site resources: earth, crushed bricks and concrete, plaster and stone. Students will learn about embodied emissions of material production and how to overcome durability issues related with low carbon materials. It’s an hands-on workshop which lasts 10 days and is closed by a presentation in front of the main actors of the project: city of Paris, architects, industries.
Content
On the 27th June 2022, the team led by landscape designer Bas Smets with GRAU as urban planners and architects and Neufville-Gayet as heritage architects won the competition of the surroundings of Notre Dame Cathedral. They won with the idea to develop a material made with the raw elements from the site that can contribute to a long term discussion between the material history and future use of an underground space by the next generations. Based on the first mix design developed, this workshop aims to deepen the research on this material potential. The workshop is articulated around central questions: How to design a material for eternity if it is made out rubbles of concrete, earth and stone? Should we design for eternity or accept decay? And more fundamentally, how much carbon emission is it reasonable to emit for a project that will transform the main square in front of an eight hundred years old cathedral? This raises the question of what heritage do we want to bequeath to the next generation? A Cathedral square and/or a climate and functioning ecosystem that allows them to thrive? The workshop is based on a combination of hands-on experiments and guest lectures on the architectural intention around Notre Dame renovation, on Life Cycle Assessment and material science of building materials. The first week explores the influence of processing and material mix design on colors and textures. The second week dives into durability questions, maintenance and transformations over decades and centuries. By the end of the workshop, the students will present by group their work to selected stakeholders involved in the project as well as key experts from architecture preservation, material and sustainability science. Low Carbon materials explored during workshop is mainly poured earth, or earth concrete, which is a new technology well adapted to cities areas. The earth as liquid form is poured into a formwork and uncast after several hours to produce wall elements. Floors can be also done with this technology as it is currently done with concrete slab. It is a local material when excavated material from the site is used. It is nearly zero carbon as the additives used to modify its properties (water resistance, strength, fluidity) require low energy for their production (bio-additives...) and circular as the material can be returned to nature without environmental and societal impact. We will work with earth, limestone, plaster and demolished bricks and concrete as they are the main materials available in Paris.
General Information
- Language
- English
- Levels
- BSC , MSC
Examination
- Type
- ungraded semester performance
Course Components
| Type | Title | Time & Place | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| practical/laboratory course |
New Materiality for the Passage Notre Dame
Block course 5-16.09.2022.
|
No time listed | 60 h semesterly |
Offered In
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Electives (The entire course programs of ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich are open to the students to individual selection.)
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