As part of the effort to restore Notre-Dame, a team of scientists and engineers created a virtual twin of the famous Paris landmark.
Livio De Luca, who leads the digital team, explained that they built a digital system to bring together 3D scans of the cathedral and show how it looked at different points in time.
The fire that devastated Notre-Dame happened on 15 April , 2019, and shocked people around the world. The blaze destroyed much of the cathedral’s roof, including its iconic wooden spire, which collapsed during the fire.
It took hours for firefighters to bring the flames under control, and while the stone structure and many of the precious artifacts were saved, the damage to the cathedral was severe. The event sparked an outpouring of support and donations from around the globe to fund its restoration.
The cause of the fire was believed to be accidental, possibly linked to ongoing renovation work at the time.
Digitally restoring Notre-Dame
Investigators found no evidence of arson, but the disaster raised concerns about protecting historic monuments. It also inspired a renewed focus on preserving cultural heritage through modern technology, such as the virtual twin project.
"|To build it] we combined data showing the cathedral before the fire, after the fire, and during the restoration," De Luca said. He added that the virtual twin isn’t just about the building’s shape and materials—it also includes all the scientific research done on Notre-Dame.
De Luca said the virtual twin helped architects by giving them missing details about how the cathedral looked before the fire. "It was really important to recover this information to restore it as accurately as possible," he explained.
Now that Notre-Dame is restored, De Luca said the project will continue to help scientists. Over time, the data will be shared with researchers around the world.
"Also, a lot of this data will be turned into digital content to help teach people about Notre-Dame and create resources for a new museum about the cathedral," he said.
