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History of the roofs of Paris
In the mid-19th century, Napoleon III sought to transform the capital, enlisting Baron Haussmann for the task. Haussmann aimed to standardize the urban landscape and turned to zinc for Parisian rooftops. Zinc proved to be a more cost-effective material, enabling an expansion of usable space and conforming to the sloped roofs known as "à la Mansarde." This is how the majority of Parisian rooftops came to be gray.
Roofers are artisans with an ancestral craftsmanship that has been passed down for over 300 years. Today, they are entrusted with the restoration of Parisian rooftops.
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To preserve this heritage, a nomination has been submitted to have the rooftops of Paris included in the UNESCO World Heritage list!
The newspaper, the carbon-14 of Parisian rooftops
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Over 50 years ago, paper newspapers were much more prominent in the daily lives of the French. Roofers, after finishing reading them, would interleave the pages between zinc sheets and the still-damp concrete, avoiding the need to wait for it to dry. While restoring the roof, roofers often find old newspaper pages adhered to the zinc sheets. This practice allows us to date your Parisian rooftop.
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This tradition has gradually been abandoned in favor of new ones. Nowadays, each roofer leaves their own signature on the roof they renovate, often leaving behind a thoughtful memento for their successors, such as a coin or a bottle of wine.