Paris. For the reopening of Notre-Dame, the City of Paris did not arrive empty-handed: its major redevelopment project around the cathedral – financed by the municipality to the tune of 50 million euros – only started in 2025, but the first visitors to the monument were able to set foot on a “small square” before crossing the monumental porch. More than a sample, it is a real appetizer for Bas Smets, the Belgian landscaper who won the architectural competition launched by the City, who presents this first intervention as an extension of the cathedral.
The dimensions of the Notre-Dame square in the 13th century, when the high facade of the western massif was revealed at the bend of a narrow street, this small square is designed in continuity with the floor of the cathedral: “All the paving inside is based on the measurement of the royal inch, and we used this same standard outside so that the square is exactly the same dimensionsdetails Bas Smets. The surface treatment uses the technique of laying, small incisions in the stone which will create an animation on the surface with the changes in orientation of the sun, a sort of optical checkerboard. These are atmospheric elements, almost cosmological if you like, that I wanted to bring… It’s a project in which you have to have a spiritual dimension. »
A limestone forecourt
For the Belgian office, the challenge is to provide a pleasant visiting experience, conducive to contemplation, while meeting the general specifications of Parisian urban development, the main points of which are revegetation, the reduction of space granted to cars and adaptation to climate issues. An additional difficulty is that it is a development that will have to support the footsteps of 15 million visitors each year.
With this objective in mind, the large square remains at the dimensions given to it by the developments of Baron Haussmann in the 19th century. But this large rectangle, which almost horizontally reflects the scale of the western massif of the cathedral, will be a little more elaborate: limestone here replaces the dark granite of the Parisian squares, to better illuminate the cathedral. In summer, a sheet of water will run through this large square, to cool this space exposed to the sun, but also to reinforce the atmospheric effects dear to landscapers. Finally, a crown of trees will surround the square, providing shaded seating for visitors.
The interest of this development project is also to offer a real route, perhaps even a sketch of mediation, to visitors to the cathedral, by providing privileged points of view on its facade. A marking on the ground to indicate the place where we see the head of the Virgin, or to place yourself in the center of the rose window; benches from which we can see the urban connections between the cathedral and the Pantheon: the layout will be dotted with incentives to look up. The small square itself is one of these devices: “It will allow us to find this upward view of the cathedral, as imagined by the architects eight hundred years ago, who wanted us to look up to the sky! “, promises the landscaper.
The Grau architecture and town planning agency, associated within the Bureau Bas Smets group, is responsible for setting up a reception center in the cathedral’s underground car park. The enhancement of this space makes it possible to create a more visible entrance to the crypt of Notre-Dame, and to create a direct connection with the banks of the Seine. The architects imagine it as an underground place for walking, connecting the river to the cathedral through a staircase which, again, will offer a unique point of view on the monument. “Leaving the crypt, we will have a view of the Seine, which allows you to understand the remains preserved there, since the visitor comes out to the place where boats arrived and unloaded in Roman times. »
The tour of Notre-Dame, “an activity in itself”
Beyond the outskirts of the western massif, the scope proposed by the Paris City Hall during the competition extends to the entire cathedral, from the banks of the Seine to the tip of the Île de la Cité, where is the Memorial of the Martyrs of the Deportation. It is at the rear of the apse that the plans drawn up by Bas Smets encountered strong criticism from heritage defenders, wishing to preserve the Parisian spirit of Square Jean-XXIII, and in particular its gates. The topic is now closed: “We put the gates back. For me, with or without them the project works, it’s not a problem. Removing the fences was simply one of the expectations of the City’s competition. specifies the landscaper.
This rear part of the project is crucial, for the municipality as for the diocese, which both wish to distribute tourist flows around the cathedral, and encourage access from Île Saint-Louis and the left bank. A small belvedere will be created, following the old shape of the Île de la Cité, to attract visitors to this area: “The bedside, the Memorial must once again become points of interest. The ambition is really to prevent tourists from queuing, going to Notre-Dame, then going on to the Eiffel Tower. We want to invite them to walk, to take in a site as a whole, and ensure that the tour of Notre-Dame becomes an activity in itself…»
