Alejandro Arredondo, an architect born in Mexico, is among the few who will ever get to work on the Notre Dame in Paris, France since its construction nine centuries ago.
Nearly 6,000 miles from his native homeland, Arredondo is the only Latino working on the restoration of the 860-year-old gothic cathedral.
“For me, it’s an honor to be part of this amazing project. This once-in-a-lifetime project,” said Arredondo.
In 2017, Arredondo arrived in Paris with his wife searching for an opportunity. Two years later he was hired at Art Graphic and Patrimony, a group that specialized in the preservation of historical sites. Three months into the job the unimaginable happened, the Notre Dame cathedral was engulfed in flames.
After the fire, a U.S. company hired Arredondo’s employer to make a digital model of the 12th-century cathedral to help with the reconstruction process. Using 3D laser scanners and high-performance drones, Arredondo and his teammates were in charge of making a complete survey of the scorched building.
“Every single element of that model has info that’s specific for the columns, floors, ceilings, beams, 14 arches and volts,” said Arredondo.
Five years later, and less than two months away from its reopening the Mexican architect says he feels more connected to his faith and the Paris community than ever before while still holding onto his culture.
“As a Latino—as a Mexican, I was keeping in mind all the time that when we do things—we do it with passion,” said Arredondo.
The Notre Dame continued to top the lists of most visited monuments in Europe even after it’s closure following the catastrophic fire back in 2019.
Arredondo has etched his own mark on history on a global monument that rose from the ashes and has proven to be once again a masterpiece of human creativity.
“I took that element to show that we are capable of doing great things,” said Arredondo.