Learn more about the resources that build cities, discover the history of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris and the project of its restoration, reflect on the ambivalence of the status of privately owned public spaces in the United Kingdom thanks to the British pavilion of the Venice Architecture Biennale... In France and abroad, architecture fans are spoilt for choice when it comes to visiting exhibitions this weekend of April 30 and May 1!

1. Tribute to Notre-Dame de Paris. The spire of the cathedral and its sculptures at the Cité de l’Architecture

Three years ago, a fire whose origin remains uncertain reduced the roof of the cathedral Notre-Dame de Paris to ashes, and produced multiple damages throughout the building. To learn more about the construction of the building (from the 12th to the 19th century) and its restoration project, the Cité de l’Architecture, in Paris, offers an exhibition entitled “Homage to Notre-Dame de Paris”, which is part of the permanent exhibition. Exceptionally, this establishment, which usually only exhibits casts, even proposes to observe original sculptures of the building, including the cockerel of the spire, found the day after the tragedy in the debris!

2. Resources at the Pavillon de l’Arsenal until June 12

At the Pavillon de l’Arsenal, in Paris, an immersive exhibition allows visitors to (re)discover the material resources of the Paris region in the earth, plaster and wood sectors through four video projections. The objective is to “reweave the link between raw materials and urban form, between architecture and territory. In short: to bring a reflection on the import, and to become aware of the offer in materials of the region. The exhibition also presents these materials during the different stages of their transformation into matter, alongside the tools that allow this metamorphosis.

3. The Garden of Privatised Delights, British Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2021, at the Building Centre in London until October 15

A few months after the end of the Venice Architecture Biennale 2021, the British Pavilion is back on its island! The Building Centre in London presents this exhibition that proposes a reflection, through six immersive spaces, on the ambivalent status of privately owned public spaces in the UK.