Mourning the Mack – again

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Mackintosh Building 22nd May 2014

This year is the 150th Birthday of Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Glasgow should be celebrating – we were celebrating. There is a wonderful exhibition at Kelvingrove which I’ve seen and enjoyed (and intend to go back to) and just yesterday a new mural was unveiled which I’m hoping to see in person soon. But today I woke up to the news that Mackintosh’s iconic Glasgow School of Art has been hit by fire for the second time in four years. It’s devastating – restoration was going well and the building was due to reopen next year. There are no reports of casualties – thank goodness – but Glasgow mourns all the same.

The picture at the top of the post was taken the day before the first fire – I was one of the last people to visit the Mackintosh Library. I wrote about that experience at the time and was proud to be contacted by the restoration architects because “You have posted a beautiful photograph of the Library Windsor Chair that is really useful as it’s showing the reinforcements done to the original design.” My picture was to be part of their documentation!

The account of my Mackintosh visit is on my long defunct blog Adventures of a Retired Librarian where there are more pictures of what was lost. Last time, a restoration fund was quickly opened up. Today is too early for that, but I’ll keep you posted.

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105 Comments »

  1. That is horrible and smells fishy. Two fires in four years? Cant’ be chancy.
    It’s devastanting when historical buildings get damaged, or worse destroyed. It’s a part of us that gets lost forever. And there are people who still don’t undertand it.
    So sad…

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  3. I’m trying to catch up on some earlier posts and am now finally seeing this one. I have so many questions!!

    Is it bad luck or something far more nefarious going on with 2 fires in 4 years? I hope they are going to continue with the restoration?

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  4. So sad- five days ago I did a spontaneous painting about the fire and I called the piece ‘Resurgam!’
    It is on my site if anyone wants to view it.

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  5. When I saw it in the news my heart went out to those students who had their art collection in the building!! On a lighter note, Mackintosh reminds me of hard lollies on family car trips, to be savoured as not many were given out 🙂

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  9. I am sure the whole of the UK mourns with you for the loss of the Mack. What an unbelievable tragedy, and to happen so soon after the last fire. News now is that it can be repaired, to an extent, and we all hope that this can be done.

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  10. I thought of you when I heard about this devastating news and hope it is not a lost cause. I also hope it isn’t arson but I wonder since this is the second time.

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    • In a way, I almost hope it is. Almost. An arsonist has no conscience presumably. If a contractor has made a terrible mistake, imagine the guilt that person will feel! On the other hand, if it’s arson and the person isn’t caught, other buildings are at risk. It’s awful.

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  14. I really enjoyed the recent programme on TV about his life but I also highly rate lesser known Scottish architects/ artists like Thomson and William Leiper who produced buildings of equal merit and great beauty but are not valued in the same way. It’s all a matter of personal taste but I’ve never liked the outside of Hill House or House for an Art Lover- concrete monstrosities both. I do like Margaret Macdonald’s work inside his buildings yet his wife rarely gets equal billing, even today but you can see her influence on Gustav Klimt during his gold period in the Kiss and other paintings. To me, (as he said himself) she’s the real star but it’s like music- everyone has a different opinion on it and current fashion and trends play a huge part.

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    • You’re right – CRM said “Margaret has genius, I have only talent”. I think she is maybe becoming more valued now as is Thomson. I don’t know much about Leiper’s work other than Templeton’s. I don’t agree about Hill House etc – I find them beautiful! It’s undoubtedly true that the Art School is a Glasgow icon though, and will be sadly missed if it goes. As one article I read said it might be the only Art School in the world where the building is worthy of the subject.

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  15. I have seen the photographs taken from the air and they are not terribly encouraging – but – Glasgow has a lot of clever and skilled people, so I wouldn’t write it off just yet.

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    • It’s hard to be optimistic. However, they built House for an Art Lover from Mackintosh’s plans not that long ago, and they have all the plans for the Art School too (the archives were rescued in the first fire) so you never know. Some people thought rebuilding the Library was a waste of time because it wasn’t authentic, but it was the design that counted – Mackintosh didn’t use expensive materials. Though of course, you will never again get the feeling “he touched this”.

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  17. Such sad news about the Art School – it seems odd that they should have another devastating fire while they are rebuilding after the last one. A dreadful case of bad luck? On a more positive note – how proud you must feel that they used some of your photos to help them with their previous restoration work.

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  22. I was gutted to see the news last night. I actually double- and triple-checked that it was true, hoping that friends were somehow reposting stuff about the previous fire. My heart sank when I saw it verified on the BBC. Glasgow friends seem to think the building has experienced major collapse this time. We can only hope that there is enough left to salvage and rebuild. I am not ready to face the idea of this iconic and important building having been lost. I saw someone post that the fire has leapt to the nearby ABC cinema, another building with a lot of history, and caved in its roof too. I am extremely glad, of course, that there were no casualties but this really is devastating news.

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    • It is. The building seems to be no more than a shell. I have not much hope 😟. Glasgow is so proud of Mackintosh (although he didn’t, like so many ahead of their times) get a lot of credit when he was alive!

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  25. Hi Anabel – I was horrified to hear of the fire … so desperately sad. Thanks for the post and for keeping us up to date. I’ll look back at your previous post … interesting about the photo of the chair – well done for being one of yours and not John’s!! I’m sorry … it won’t be an easy weekend for anyone in Glasgow – Hilary

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  26. It is sad indeed. I saw it on the news last night and was very shock to hear it. It is such a beautiful building and it is so sad. I certainly hope the restoration will continue but it must be quite devastating for the team who was working on it. I am a big fan of the work of Mackintosh and would love to see the exhibit but Glasgow is a bit far for us now… (Suzanne)

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    • I can’t imagine how they can rescue this – it’s a shell, whereas last time they managed to contain the fire to one end. Four years restoration gone, just like that. The exhibition was great though!

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      • It is truly sad and I am very sorry that this monument will probably not survive… It is always so devastating to see some of these beautiful old buildings disappear. We had a few recent fires in Montreal which destroyed some patrimonial houses and it was a sad day though the buildings were nothing as important as the Mackintosh building…

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  31. I’m only just catching up with you as I’ve recently been away for a few days and am now trying to update my own blog. I’m so sorry to read this awful news – to be honest I’m not really into art but the devastation of such an iconic building is dreadful. I have a friend who is a great fan of all things Mackintosh but she doesn’t watch a lot of tv so I’ll pass this post on to her as I’m sure she’ll be interested.

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  33. So sorry to read about that Anabel. Being hit twice by fire in such a short time is really rubbing salt in the wounds. I hope the destruction is manageable and that the insurance can take care of a “quick” restoration. Do they know yet what caused the fire?

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    • It’s not looking hopeful according to BBC:

      Deputy assistant chief fire officer Peter Heath says there is damage to every part of the Mackintosh building, and the fire had such a grip of the building when they arrived here just after 23:15 last night, that they don’t know where it started let alone how.
      Initial impressions are that it seems unlikely that any of the restoration work carried out since fire ripped through the building four years ago, will have survived this latest blaze.

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  34. Saw this on the news. Devastating. I visited Glasgow School of Art about 8 years ago when we stayed a couple of nights in Glasgow. The first fire was bad enough…so this is heartbreaking. 😦

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  35. How sad 😦 I was lucky enough to visit the original library in 2012. It sounds as though some of the surrounding buildings have also been damaged. I had to stop watching a news report as they described the extent of damage as I thought I was going to cry.

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  37. As you’ll understand, I can’t “like” this. I’m incredibly sad, and imagine the people of Glasgow feel so much worse. I do hope restoration is possible this time. Kia Kaha.

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