After disaster struck Notre Dame in 2019, Axelle Ponsonnet began to draw parts of the cathedral exposed by the fire, some not seen for centuries. A new book documents what she discovered

When Notre Dame de Paris went up in flames in April 2019, architecture student Axelle Ponsonnet was just one of the French capital’s 2.1 million residents to witness a disaster unfolding in her own city. Ponsonnet had no inkling that a year later, she would be joining the workforce tasked with rebuilding the cathedral.

Emmanuel Macron had promised Notre Dame would reopen within five years. The roof – with its charpente (wooden structure), lead covering and flèche (spire) – had collapsed entirely; there were several holes in the ribbed vaults beneath and widespread lead pollution throughout the site. Ponsonnet was hired in 2020 as a junior architect to work on the team rebuilding the roof. “The cathedral was still completely charred and open to the elements, the rain falling inside,” she says. “We weren’t certain more of it wouldn’t collapse, it was so fragile.”