Guerilla watchmakers
For a year from September 2005, under the nose of the Panthéon’s unsuspecting security officials, a group of intrepid “illegal restorers” [known as the UnterGunther] set up a secret workshop and lounge in a cavity under the building’s famous dome. Under the supervision of group member Jean-Baptiste Viot, a professional clockmaker, they pieced apart and repaired the antique clock that had been left to rust in the building since the 1960s. Only when their clandestine revamp of the elaborate timepiece had been completed did they reveal themselves.
More details and pictures of this spectacular stunt by the clandestine urban explorers can be found at what appears to be the UnterGunther’s own account, and over at greg.org.
Just to be a drip, I’ll note that I’m a little surprised that the court cleared them of breaking into the Panthéon. The court’s duty is surely to apply the law, not make exceptions for horological Robin Hoods? These guys might have been both good and competent, but doesn’t a message that says, “It’s okay to break in, as long as you fix things, not break things,” set a somewhat disputable precedent?
Still. It rocks. Around the clock. (Sorry.)
