Gallery: First reveal of the new design of the Notre-Dame de Paris surroundings

The City of Paris, working with Autodesk, has announced the design competition winner to reimagine the urban landscape surrounding the Cathedral. The design competition was first launched in 2021

Four international multidisciplinary teams, led by architects, urban planners, and landscape architects, were invited to submit their design proposals. The project site included the forecourt of the Cathedral, its underground spaces and areas over the banks of the Seine River

Today, the City of Paris announced that the team led by Bureau Bas Smets was chosen by the jury as the winner of the international competition. The announcement was made by the Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo along with Emmanuel Grégoire, First Deputy Mayor of Paris

Autodesk, the technology partner of the competition, supported the City of Paris by providing technological expertise throughout the competition. The firm’s BIM solutions were used to create a 3D model of the existing area surrounding the Notre-Dame cathedral that competing teams used to understand the constraints of the site

Autodesk worked closely with the four competing teams to help them create photorealistic visualisations of their design proposals. The digital documents associated with the competition, as well as the models produced, were also available to be used between the four teams, the City of Paris and Autodesk to collaborate in real time on the Autodesk Construction Cloud platform

“The 3D visualisation of the candidates’ projects, using Autodesk technologies, enabled the jury to immerse themselves in the proposals for the redevelopment of this historic district of Paris, and choose the best design. We hope millions of visitors will enjoy this exceptional site once construction is completed” said Emmanuel Grégoire, First Deputy Mayor of Paris

Speaking on the winning design, Charlotte Fagart, Landscape Architect at Bureau Bas Smets remarked, “The project rethinks the emblematic public spaces around Notre Dame as an assemblage of climatic atmospheres. The various working sessions with the Autodesk team helped to confirm the project hypothesis initially tested in the plan and model. In addition, the model facilitated the jury’s understanding of the project by immersing them in different places and areas of the project.”

“Through this new project, Paris is reaffirming its commitment to Digital Transformation and is now positioning itself as one of the first ‘cities of the future’ by placing digital technology at the heart of its strategy to accelerate urban modernisation,” noted Nicolas Mangon, VP AEC (Architecture, Engineering, Construction) Industry Strategy at Autodesk

Now that the winning team has been unveiled, all four designs will be on display at the Pavillon de l’Arsenal in Paris. The City of Paris aims to begin construction in 2024 and to complete it in 2028