Brandon Donnelly — Daily insights for city builders. Published since 2013 by Toronto-based real estate developer Brandon Donnelly. — Page 183

I am currently sitting in CDG and running on somewhere between 3-4 hours of sleep. We spent the entire day in Paris on a layover and are now waiting to board for Tokyo . So today's post is going to be two quick announcements related to Junction House. One, we just received the final architectural photos from Double Space Photography , and they turned out great. If you'd like to take a look, most of them can be found here . And two, we just listed suite 607 . It's a spacious two-storey and two-bedroom suite, and one of the best in the building. Over the last few months, we've been seeing strong demand from end users (as opposed to investors) and I'm sure this one will go that way as well. For much of the last cycle, it was frankly easier and more profitable to just target investors. But I would argue that the opposite is true today. And that's a positive thing for the market.

Cover photo: Double Space Photography

After the fire at Paris’ Notre-Dame in 2019 and the destruction of the cathedral’s wooden spire, President Macron came forward with an idea: France would host an international design competition and look to replace the lost spire with a “contemporary architectural gesture.”

This precipitated a bunch of bold and “out there” proposals, but ultimately the public wasn’t down with this idea. Polls showed that the majority were in favor of just restoring the 19th century spire designed by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc. And so the idea was dropped .

This, of course, is not surprising. For better or for worse, I bet that if you asked a random sampling of people whether they prefer old-looking architecture (technical industry term) or something modern, the majority would likely say they prefer the former.

Of course, in this case, we’re not just talking about any old-looking building. Notre-Dame dates back to the 12th century and is one of the country’s most recognizable symbols. People are naturally going to feel strongly.

But what is perhaps more interesting is that is an instance of history repeating itself. Viollet-le-Duc’s 19th century spire was obviously not Notre-Dame’s original medieval spire. It had replaced a previous one that had, for whatever reason, become unstable over the course of a cool five centuries.

And interestingly enough, the idea of doing something different was also rigorously discussed in the 19th century and the answer, then, was also no :

Viollet-le-Duc himself turned down a proposal to add two new spires atop the towers, arguing that such a monument "would be remarkable but would not be Notre-Dame de Paris”. Instead, he proposed to rebuild the original medieval spire and bell tower over the transept, which had been removed in 1786 because it was unstable in the wind.

Striking the right balance between preservation and progress is always a tricky one. But it’s maybe comforting to know that this struggle has been going on for as long as we’ve been designing structures. And in the case of Notre-Dame de Paris, there’s a long history to look to: just stick to the past.

I'll let all of you be the judge as to whether this was and is the right approach.

Cover photo by Fabio Rogerio Sant Ana on Unsplash

Hong Kong is one of the last cities in the world that still uses bamboo scaffolding for construction. Why? Well, for one thing, it grows very tall, and quickly ( source ):

Bamboo is one of the fastest-growing plants in the world, and in some cases can grow 60cm a day, and eventually 40 metres tall. Bamboo has thick underground roots called rhizomes, which can grow quickly, creating new shoots metres away.

And it's cell-like structure performs very well under compression:

Compared to steel, bamboo is much lighter, six times faster to erect and 12 times faster to dismantle. It’s also a fraction of the cost. Bamboo scaffolding doesn’t require sophisticated machinery or complex tools to erect, just skilled workers with nylon ties. If properly erected, bamboo scaffolding can be stronger than steel and far more flexible. The resulting structure is also easy to modify, if necessary. Bamboo scaffolding can be used for entire structures, or part of them. In Hong Kong it is common to see “bamboo balconies” jutting from the sides of buildings where renovations are being carried out on individual units, many floors up. A bamboo pole can also be cut to fit an awkward space, which is ideal for Hong Kong, where construction spaces can be tight amid the densely packed maze of buildings.

But it's unclear how long this will remain true. Young people aren't learning the trade at the same rate as previous generations. And today, there are only 2,479 registered bamboo scaffolders left in Hong Kong. Assuming you have the nerves, the hardest part of the job is apparently the knot. It can take years to master.

If you're interested in this topic, I recommend you read this article . I found it fascinating.

Images: South China Morning Post