Handshouse held a roof truss building demonstration for the Gwozdziec Synagogue in Sanok, Poland in 2011-12 Photo: Handshouse Studio
A team of around 30 young craftsmen in Washington, DC will use 800-year-old woodworking techniques to reconstruct a piece of the fire-damaged roof of Notre Dame cathedral in Paris. As part of a teaching project organised by the Boston-based Handshouse Studio, the group will erect a full-scale truss that will rise more than three storeys high on the campus of Catholic University this August, with the 45-foot by 35-foot support structure moving to the National Building Museum on the National Mall shortly after. The project is meant to be a “gift” to France and the collective effort to rebuild Notre Dame, and will serve as a living record of tradition techniques.