Watching Notre Dame Burning

On 15 April 2019, just before 18:20 CEST, a structural fire broke out in the roof space of Notre-Dame de Paris

Live from Notre Dame—literally. Saw the news, grabbed a 6-pack, called some friends, and caught the show in person.

Victor Hugo began writing The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Notre Dame de Paris) mainly to establish awareness about the value of Gothic architecture, which was largely neglected. The cathedral has survived for eight centuries and two world wars. That same cathedral was built over the ruins of earlier churches. 

Power changes hands. Kingdoms collapse, empires thrive, and new forms of authority take place. Entire civilizations are razed to the ground to build new ones upon their remains. It’s the natural cycle of history. We are part of history, and how we experience and respond to events is part of history, too. 

History being destroyed is a vague concept. Ruins just mould into something else. Accidents exist, too, along with accidents that could have been avoided. This is the case of the Notre Dame fire. As devastating as it is, the recent event mirrors a fast-food society. This kind of fire has already happened in the past. The problem is that in past years, we tried to obtain results in a short time and with enormous funding that would require more constant and less invasive maintenance. 

As we watched the cathedral’s spire collapse, we came to terms with our mortality. The arrow used to point to the sky, home of creators and destroyers who, for a caprice, could seize a city on a blue Monday. 

I liked it.