PARIS – From before sunrise to after sunset, in slippery winters and scorching summers, the roof restorers of Paris toil away, replacing the zinc sheets that help define the city’s famous skyline.
A special spotlight is now shining on their little-noticed skills: UNESCO inscribed the zinc roof restoration techniques on its list of Intangible Cultural Heritage on Wednesday.
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″The restoration of a roof involves removing the old pieces of zinc, measuring and custom-cutting new pieces using a Parisian folding machine, and assembling and fixing the pieces onto the roof,″ UNESCO said in its citation. ″With nearly 80 percent of the roofs in Paris covered in zinc, the city is a living archive of these skills that shape the unique identity of its urban landscape.″
Most of the roofers are men, most are young. They often like heights, architecture, and working outdoors.
Fantine Dekens, 21, is a climber who worked as a bartender but wanted a profession that took her outside and high up. She has been working as a roofer since 2021.
″There is a sort of romanticism around the roofs of Paris that attracted me,″ she told the Associated Press.
″It’s super to be outdoors. But there is a physical reality that you can’t ignore. It’s often very cold, or very hot, the things to carry are heavy,″ she said. ″You can’t do this trade eternally.″
Roofers are hoping the UNESCO recognition will inspire others to join their ranks and improve their working conditions.
The profession is short of workers with the specialized skills for preserving the zinc roofs that have been a distinctive feature of Paris since the 19th century Haussmann era, from balconied apartment buildings along tree-lined avenues to historic churches that dot the French capital.
″It’s a recognition for our trade, but for me, it’s only useful if it is accompanied by a reflection on why there are so few roofers,″ she said.
Using welding techniques from the 1800s, they measure each new sheet of zinc so it fits the shape of the roof just right. Then they mount the often slippery roofs to affix the sheets to their new home.
″There’s a very poetic side when you’re up high,″ she said. ″I feel very free in my movements. We take naps during our breaks. Often we sing, we shout. No one is watching us. And we can observe all of Paris at the same time. It’s pretty incredible.″
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This story has been corrected to show that the roof techniques were inscribed as UNESCO’s Intangible Culture Heritage, instead of World Heritage.