A Dutch company is offering to use 3D printing techniques to recreate the famed gargoyles from Paris's iconic Notre Dame cathedral using ashes from the fire that consumed the spire and a large part of the wooden interior of the 850-year-old building.

The company is Concr3De, which specializes in 3D printing. The company has access to highly detailed 3D models made by Andrew Tallon, a Belgian-American art professor. In all, he and Columbia's Paul Blaer collected 1 billion points of data in the five days of scanning. He also took high-resolution panoramic photos in order to create a mapping opportunity of photo to scan.

Concr3De officials said that they would extend their offer to include the chimeras, another kind of mythical creature featured on the walls of the iconic building. Such creatures have been thought to offer protection for the cathedral. More recently, cathedral officials had replaced many of the stone gargoyles that also functioned as water spouts with PVC tubes.

In a related development, more than 1,100 international architects have urged French President Emmanuel Macron in an open letter in Le Figaro newspaper to abandon the pledge of a complete rebuild in five years. The architects have urged caution and patience in order to find a solution that doesn't feel rushed.