Paris zinc roofers earn UNESCO cultural heritage status

The UN's cultural organisation on Wednesday added the skills of Parisian zinc roofers and ornamentalists to its list of intangible cultural heritage, calling the French capital a "living archive" of their work. 

Zinc roofers and ornamentalists -- those who install and restore the decorations topping the city's buildings -- began honing their craft in the 19th century as the use of the grey metal in construction exploded.

The skills needed to install the zinc covering some 80 percent of the city's iconic rooftops "shape the unique identity of its urban landscape", said UNESCO.

And now these craftsmen are adapting their trade to deal with climate change as city-dwellers complain that the metal roofs trap too much heat in the summer.

The bid to recognise their work was "a way of promoting a heritage that looks to the future", said Delphine Burkli, the mayor of the capital's ninth district, who kickstarted the project in 2014.

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For some 6,000 roofers in Paris, their inclusion on the list is a "source of pride", said Gilles Mermet, who organised the UNESCO application.

The hope is that international recognition of their work will attract more young talent to the trade, which is crucial to maintaining the City of Light's unique skyline.

After all, "Paris without its roofs is like Paris without its Eiffel Tower", said Burkli.

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