“We will rebuild and rebuild well"
June 15, 2018 8:19 PM Subscribe
The future of the Glasgow School of Art’s historic Mackintosh Building has been plunged into uncertainty after it was gutted by a large fire on Friday night.
Long considered Charles Rennie Mackintosh's masterwork, the Mackintosh Building of the Glasgow School of Art took over ten years to complete, from 1897 to 1909.
The building suffered a devastating fire just four years ago that gutted the iconic library. Restoration work was underway, and the building was expected to reopen in early 2019.
Earlier on Friday, a huge tribute mural to Mackintosh was unveiled above the Clutha Bar in Glasgow to mark the 150th anniversary of the designer's birth.
Previously and previously.
It appears that the blaze has also damaged the remainder of the buildings on the block, including the historic O2 ABC music venue.
posted by Preserver at 8:23 PM on June 15, 2018
posted by Preserver at 8:23 PM on June 15, 2018
Went to school for art history.... I am crestfallen, gutted, heartbroken, depressed — all of the range of despairing emotions. This is a major net loss for art/architecture lovers as well as the cultural heritage of the world. I just.... this is such horrendous news....
Fuck. Really.
posted by theartandsound at 8:32 PM on June 15, 2018 [3 favorites]
Fuck. Really.
posted by theartandsound at 8:32 PM on June 15, 2018 [3 favorites]
I'm right there with you theheartandsound. I was fortunate to see this building from the outside three years ago (and to see a lot of Mackintosh's work at the kelvingrove and even in the vacation rental I was staying in, it was a delight!) I don't have the adequate words right this moment.
posted by nikaspark at 8:43 PM on June 15, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by nikaspark at 8:43 PM on June 15, 2018 [2 favorites]
Tragically, my only experience of the building is photos and videos, and it looks like it will stay that way. :(
posted by theartandsound at 8:45 PM on June 15, 2018
posted by theartandsound at 8:45 PM on June 15, 2018
I saw this building back in the 90s and loved it, just like all his work. So so sad about the fire.
posted by MovableBookLady at 8:46 PM on June 15, 2018
posted by MovableBookLady at 8:46 PM on June 15, 2018
This is terrible and sad. Why were there two large and poorly-controlled fires in three years in a library/educational building?
posted by praemunire at 8:59 PM on June 15, 2018 [11 favorites]
posted by praemunire at 8:59 PM on June 15, 2018 [11 favorites]
Wait, again? Granted, I’ve spent too long in the US, but at this point I’m fairly suspicious.
posted by aramaic at 9:01 PM on June 15, 2018
posted by aramaic at 9:01 PM on June 15, 2018
Why were there two large and poorly-controlled fires in three years in a library/educational building?
The first one was a really unfortunate set of coincidences: a student working on a piece sprayed flammable foam too close to a projector, which ignited the fumes, and the new enhanced fire suppression system which could have prevented a serious spread was still being installed and was almost but not-yet operational.
This one, though, happening as it did on the day of the mural unveiling, is Suspicious.
posted by halation at 9:07 PM on June 15, 2018 [3 favorites]
The first one was a really unfortunate set of coincidences: a student working on a piece sprayed flammable foam too close to a projector, which ignited the fumes, and the new enhanced fire suppression system which could have prevented a serious spread was still being installed and was almost but not-yet operational.
This one, though, happening as it did on the day of the mural unveiling, is Suspicious.
posted by halation at 9:07 PM on June 15, 2018 [3 favorites]
Slight correction: The 2014 fire was obviously FOUR years ago, not two. I'm a little distraught.
I saw the interior while studying in Glasgow over 20 years ago. I always meant to go back, and comforted myself after the 2014 fire that most of the building survived and that I could at least enjoy the reconstructed library.
I'd like to think it could somehow still be rebuilt (the building was 3D scanned before the first fire), but....
posted by Preserver at 9:17 PM on June 15, 2018
I saw the interior while studying in Glasgow over 20 years ago. I always meant to go back, and comforted myself after the 2014 fire that most of the building survived and that I could at least enjoy the reconstructed library.
I'd like to think it could somehow still be rebuilt (the building was 3D scanned before the first fire), but....
posted by Preserver at 9:17 PM on June 15, 2018
The restoration efforts from the previous fire were nearly finished. They had worked so, so hard, I can’t tell you how carefully and lovingly that work was being done to match every detail and get it just right. It was still a building site before last night (the contractors hadn’t handed it back over), but it was nearly finished, they were even starting to move the furniture back in, and it was a well-managed site staffed by dedicated people so I am lost as to how the hell this happened. This fire seems definitely worse than last time’s and has spread to the east wing which was previously saved. I dearly hope it can be saved and rebuilt, again, but seeing the scale of this I don’t know.
I don’t think the cause of the fire is likely to be suspicious. Glasgow’s propensity for strangely flammable buildings is largely a development thing that wouldn’t apply here. But I can’t think how it could have gone up like that.
My husband works in heritage here and had been out to the site not long ago. It was so nearly finished and they were so proud of the work they’d done. We were up until 2am here watching the news, in tears.
posted by Catseye at 10:01 PM on June 15, 2018 [12 favorites]
I don’t think the cause of the fire is likely to be suspicious. Glasgow’s propensity for strangely flammable buildings is largely a development thing that wouldn’t apply here. But I can’t think how it could have gone up like that.
My husband works in heritage here and had been out to the site not long ago. It was so nearly finished and they were so proud of the work they’d done. We were up until 2am here watching the news, in tears.
posted by Catseye at 10:01 PM on June 15, 2018 [12 favorites]
(and by ‘watching the news’ I mean ‘watching the news unfold on Twitter’, when I went to bed there was still a lot of yelling on there about why the BBC weren’t covering it yet given BBC Scotland is literally walking distance away.)
posted by Catseye at 10:12 PM on June 15, 2018
posted by Catseye at 10:12 PM on June 15, 2018
Don't they have fire suppression systems in the UK? I mean, I know a lot of the buildings are old, but surely if you had to do that much rebuilding you'd install *something*? I really can't imagine two fires like that in a US public building.
posted by tavella at 10:43 PM on June 15, 2018
posted by tavella at 10:43 PM on June 15, 2018
Yes, we have fire suppression systems. It is unclear how this could have happened. At least one thing we can guarantee is that this fire is going to be very well investigated I suppose.
posted by Catseye at 10:48 PM on June 15, 2018
posted by Catseye at 10:48 PM on June 15, 2018
The mural was a micro-controversy (debate over who owned the wall) but I doubt it has anything to do with the fire. At least this year's grads have had their degree show and graduation, I think. Stuff just keeps going on fire in Glasgow though: suspicious, even if not malicious.
posted by Wrinkled Stumpskin at 1:17 AM on June 16, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Wrinkled Stumpskin at 1:17 AM on June 16, 2018 [1 favorite]
View from above of the extent of the damage, including to the ABC next door.
posted by Catseye at 2:26 AM on June 16, 2018
posted by Catseye at 2:26 AM on June 16, 2018
The possible saving grace of this is that the £25 million restoration work after the first fire means we have 3D maps and a prototype that has been used to test and retest every aspect of the design and manufacture of the Mackintosh Library.
So I think it can be rebuilt it is just a case of finding the money.
"A passing policeman had raised the alarm"
This does make me wonder why on such an important project they didn't have a portable fire detection system in place?
posted by Lanark at 2:27 AM on June 16, 2018 [3 favorites]
So I think it can be rebuilt it is just a case of finding the money.
"A passing policeman had raised the alarm"
This does make me wonder why on such an important project they didn't have a portable fire detection system in place?
posted by Lanark at 2:27 AM on June 16, 2018 [3 favorites]
I really can't imagine two fires like that in a US public building.
And yet weird coincidences happen. While there are a number of issues around fire safety in the UK (that this happened just after the first anniversary of the Grenfell fire is pertinent to that observation, I guess) this may just be horrible luck. Or there could be something more sinister/idiotic going on.
posted by howfar at 2:29 AM on June 16, 2018
And yet weird coincidences happen. While there are a number of issues around fire safety in the UK (that this happened just after the first anniversary of the Grenfell fire is pertinent to that observation, I guess) this may just be horrible luck. Or there could be something more sinister/idiotic going on.
posted by howfar at 2:29 AM on June 16, 2018
Mod note: "Two years ago" typo in post fixed per OP's clarification.
posted by taz (staff) at 2:39 AM on June 16, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by taz (staff) at 2:39 AM on June 16, 2018 [1 favorite]
Saw this on the news, and thought Oh no! It's very sad - I hope they can find a way to bring it back to life.
posted by carter at 4:30 AM on June 16, 2018
posted by carter at 4:30 AM on June 16, 2018
This is terrible, hope nobody was hurt.
I'm not one for conspiracy theories but I think questions have to be asked now.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 6:25 AM on June 16, 2018
I'm not one for conspiracy theories but I think questions have to be asked now.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 6:25 AM on June 16, 2018
I'm not one for conspiracy theories but I think questions have to be asked now.
Investigating a major fire is hardly promoting "conspiracy theories" - if this was arson, they will discover that. But it may not have been - the idea that a second accidental (or negligently) caused fire is impossible is sort of a folk probability fallacy ("lightning never strikes twice").
posted by thelonius at 7:29 AM on June 16, 2018 [1 favorite]
Investigating a major fire is hardly promoting "conspiracy theories" - if this was arson, they will discover that. But it may not have been - the idea that a second accidental (or negligently) caused fire is impossible is sort of a folk probability fallacy ("lightning never strikes twice").
posted by thelonius at 7:29 AM on June 16, 2018 [1 favorite]
I also doubt it's a conspiracy-theory kind of situation. Most Glasgow suspicious fires in interesting old buildings are situations where the land is worth more to someone empty than with the current interesting old building on it. The art school is probably the best-known building in Scotland that isn't either a castle or in Outlander, and the renovation work was nearly complete. (Now if the ABC had gone on fire first, maybe.)
Currently looks like the best-case scenario is a facade retention and totally rebuilding the interior, and that's only if the external structure isn't too badly damaged. Fire service describing it as "in a very poor state" doesn't sound brilliant. On the other hand it's a dearly-loved building that is mapped out well enough to rebuild from the ground up if the will and the money is there.
posted by Catseye at 9:20 AM on June 16, 2018
Currently looks like the best-case scenario is a facade retention and totally rebuilding the interior, and that's only if the external structure isn't too badly damaged. Fire service describing it as "in a very poor state" doesn't sound brilliant. On the other hand it's a dearly-loved building that is mapped out well enough to rebuild from the ground up if the will and the money is there.
posted by Catseye at 9:20 AM on June 16, 2018
But I can’t think how it could have gone up like that.
My understanding is that the Mac was not built in the same way that would be standard for libraries either of its time or now. That was a part of its appeal but was also a vulnerability. A building with a very large amount of wood and books in it - but without the kind of divisions that would make up conventional fire zones. Right up until the new fire suppression system was in action - the place was very vulnerable. Maybe especially so given the ongoing building work.
It's a tragedy - but just as in nature - fires can be a force of regenerative change just as they are of destruction. Given the lack of alternatives - I'd like to see a replacement building that credits Macintosh - but which also runs with its own spirit of creativity.
posted by rongorongo at 11:18 AM on June 16, 2018
My understanding is that the Mac was not built in the same way that would be standard for libraries either of its time or now. That was a part of its appeal but was also a vulnerability. A building with a very large amount of wood and books in it - but without the kind of divisions that would make up conventional fire zones. Right up until the new fire suppression system was in action - the place was very vulnerable. Maybe especially so given the ongoing building work.
It's a tragedy - but just as in nature - fires can be a force of regenerative change just as they are of destruction. Given the lack of alternatives - I'd like to see a replacement building that credits Macintosh - but which also runs with its own spirit of creativity.
posted by rongorongo at 11:18 AM on June 16, 2018
I am not an expert, but a building site which is being built in non-standard ways (as above, and because CRM designed things in a weird way), and that is nearly finished but not quite, and also partially open to the public, sounds like the worst combo for site safety.
posted by The River Ivel at 11:36 AM on June 16, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by The River Ivel at 11:36 AM on June 16, 2018 [2 favorites]
This Twitter thread has an interesting take on the bleakness of the situation vs the long-term potential.
posted by Catseye at 2:57 PM on June 16, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Catseye at 2:57 PM on June 16, 2018 [1 favorite]
A building open to public use in a wealthy country in the 21st century should not be so vulnerable to fire. Negligence in such a building has the same awful results as arson. And if they can't reconstruct it so that it is not a firetrap, then it should not be reconstructed, beautiful as it really was. The one consolation here is that no one died. They may not be so lucky next time.
posted by praemunire at 3:34 PM on June 16, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by praemunire at 3:34 PM on June 16, 2018 [2 favorites]
I never managed to visit it, sadly, and never quite managed to incorporated it into my picture of Glasgow, and I'm sad I'll never get to fill that hole.
In terms of me trying to fill that hole, and to defend the people who'd dedicated themselves to restoring and refurbishing it safely, here's a 2017 article on the refurbishment which describes a lot about the building, the work done, and ends with a cutaway cross-section of the building. I would say that over the next few months, it would have been made an awful lot more fire resistant.
Again, Mackintosh’s forest of timber ducts are a key part of the refurbishment. ‘The timber ducts that run up through the building are now being used as routes for new power and communications cabling, along with pipework for a new mist fire-suppression system,’ says Napier.
‘And, of course, we’ll be fitting the ducts with fire dampers and fire stopping.’
I suspect that the final fireproofing of the ducts was going to be one of the last parts of the restoration, and like the 2014 fire having happened shortly before a sprinkler system was brought into service, there's a lot of bad luck at play here.
posted by ambrosen at 5:37 PM on June 16, 2018 [3 favorites]
In terms of me trying to fill that hole, and to defend the people who'd dedicated themselves to restoring and refurbishing it safely, here's a 2017 article on the refurbishment which describes a lot about the building, the work done, and ends with a cutaway cross-section of the building. I would say that over the next few months, it would have been made an awful lot more fire resistant.
Again, Mackintosh’s forest of timber ducts are a key part of the refurbishment. ‘The timber ducts that run up through the building are now being used as routes for new power and communications cabling, along with pipework for a new mist fire-suppression system,’ says Napier.
‘And, of course, we’ll be fitting the ducts with fire dampers and fire stopping.’
I suspect that the final fireproofing of the ducts was going to be one of the last parts of the restoration, and like the 2014 fire having happened shortly before a sprinkler system was brought into service, there's a lot of bad luck at play here.
posted by ambrosen at 5:37 PM on June 16, 2018 [3 favorites]
Twitter thread from Paul Sweeney with the closest look yet at the damage. It looks like a mixed bag, structurally - some sections look relatively stable, others have quite significant damage.
posted by Preserver at 9:56 AM on June 17, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Preserver at 9:56 AM on June 17, 2018 [1 favorite]
Interesting Twitter thread, from OssianLore, on what might happen to the Mack from now on. He argues that, if Dresden can reconstruct its edifices as they were (even adding underground parking) - then there is no reason why the same could not happen here.
posted by rongorongo at 10:21 AM on June 17, 2018
posted by rongorongo at 10:21 AM on June 17, 2018
Here’s a beautiful (fb) album of photos of the interior, by a former student - looks like some of them were taken after the last fire, some while the building was in use.
I’d never seen it - couple of years ago I had a project that took me to the CCA, right next door, once a month, but never got round to going up the street to even nose at the exterior :(
I feel like there’s often a resistance here to modern recreations of old architecture (I blame Prince Charles and his predilection for naff heritage reconstructions) but I’d be happy to see a Dresden-style recreation of The Mack, but with the biggest sprinkler system ever seen.
I just cannot imagine how the poor people feel who have put their heart and soul into the reconstruction for the past four years.
posted by penguin pie at 12:13 PM on June 17, 2018
I’d never seen it - couple of years ago I had a project that took me to the CCA, right next door, once a month, but never got round to going up the street to even nose at the exterior :(
I feel like there’s often a resistance here to modern recreations of old architecture (I blame Prince Charles and his predilection for naff heritage reconstructions) but I’d be happy to see a Dresden-style recreation of The Mack, but with the biggest sprinkler system ever seen.
I just cannot imagine how the poor people feel who have put their heart and soul into the reconstruction for the past four years.
posted by penguin pie at 12:13 PM on June 17, 2018
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