Glasgow School of Art – burning

Charles Rennie Mackintosh Building

Not good 🙁

BBC

Just saw it on Twitter – that’s heartbreaking to see.

Sad. Very sad.

Apparently started in the basement and the flames are coming out the top now, so fairly terminal for that building. There won’t be much left.

Just had email from Building Design about this… doesn’t look good.
It won’t be terminal, just long and complicated restoration.

that’s pretty horrific for such an iconic building. oh dear. just as they’ve opened a new version too.

Also a bit of a shitter for the students. At least so far it appears that nobody has been hurt.

**** me – that was a heart in mouth moment – we’ve got a 400kW wood pellet boiler in GSOA – I’ve worked our from the piccies that it’s in a totally different building – district heating heats the whole street.

Might have some fun with head office though!

Sad news – even if No one is hurt it will be a tradgedy.

My twitter feed is all over this from AJ/BD/RIBA and the rest.

Confirmed by the school that everyone is out and safe.

V sad news.

Also approaching exam time, lots of hard work will be lost. Hope they can save the building.

Yep, there will be plenty of degree show work in that building. Not like they can just print off another copy

That is very sad news.

It is very sad, my wife studied there and I’ve just broken the news. My som is also sitting two highers today next door to the art school, Latin this afternoon and I’d imagine it’ll be a bit noisy.

Just had a look out of my upstairs window-there’s a lot of smoke over the city centre. Not good

😥 Waaaaaaaaah! 😥

there’s usually some seriously decent work set up in there around this time ready for degree show (Jenny Saville’s stuff during my time for example)….

Hope the library gets saved.

I’m in this pic of a few years back. Poor old Mack.

The potential loss of a beautiful building is bad, but I really feel for the students who’ve lost years worth of work 🙁

The potential loss of a beautiful building is bad, but I really feel for the students who’ve lost years worth of work

Thats well bad
but is art work
i dont think so

Thats well bad
but is art work
i dont think so

Insightful.

fantastic building – such a shame – I made a point to visit the few times I’ve been to Glasgow

Gapjump wins bellend of the week award.

bbc reporting that the library and archive will be gone.

Nobeerinthefridge +1

Really sad news. As well as memories of the place I have friends and former colleagues there and it must be really hard for them to lose work like this. And then the archives, stuff like the library… that are difficult to replace. Just hope nobody is hurt.

I hope gapjump has more success at getting air than composing haikus, if not then he may need to change his username to faceplant.

Very sad news indeed, as has already been said it was an iconic building, stunning design inside and out – I was at uni in the mid 90’s with Archie McCall’s (head of ceramics at GSA) son and i blagged my way to spend many a lost afternoon inside it, I loved being shown how to make weird n’ wonderful glazed creations, I’ll have to go and have a look at them when i get home.

Darn, I’ve been intending to check it out for years.

Good news, junior got through his Latin exam unscathed. There’s always a positive. 🙂

**** me – that was a heart in mouth moment – we’ve got a 400kW wood pellet boiler in GSOA – I’ve worked our from the piccies that it’s in a totally different building – district heating heats the whole street.

Might have some fun with head office though!

That was my first thought, ‘please let it not be the biomass that started it’

Beautiful building, spent many an hour in there over the years…very sad day

A beautiful and inspiring building which I am very glad I went to see on several occasions, must go to The Hill House.

NO!

Not looking at all good:

🙁

Any truth that it was too expensive to insure?

I saw it on the news, and I’m desperately sad for both the city and people of Glasgow, and the students who have lost everything they’ve worked for during their time there.
There will be a lot of broken hearts there tonight.
And gapjump; take a quick trip down to the LifeShop, why don’t you, I hear there’s a sale on. 🙄

Surprised at how sad this has made me considering i was never a student there (although i was in the union regularly back in the day). Even if it can be rebuilt it will never be the same, not just in terms of loss of the archives which is a huge blow in itself, but more generally too the loss of history.

Watched that on the news, and my heart went out to those doing end of degree shows, who are watching 3 years work go up in smoke. Tragic! 🙁

It’s been a landmark for our wee family for a long time, from my wife studying there, many a happy night in the Vic and my son at school beside the art school for the last 14 years. Very very sad. Gutted for the students.

Hopefully the building plans were not stored onsite.

It can be rebuilt and it will still be a Mackintosh building.

The great loss is its contents.

Bum. 🙁

I keep trying to tell myself it’s only a building but it’s not is it? It’s the Glasgow school of art. Why did it have to be that. It’s like a bad joke. Gutted. I feel for the students, but the building! Bencoopers picture broke my heart.

Edit: epicyclo that’s the point, the contents, he did everything, not just facade. So rooms, doors, furniture, murals that’s all gone.

I used to work in a graphic arts suppliers a little further past there on Renfrew St, so walked past there every day.
It’s very sad and probably one of the most architecturally important buildings in Glasgow.

There were people absolutely distraught about this all over our campus today… Gutted for the students.

One of our built environent guys was involved in a conservation survey of the mac a few years back, he reckons it’s one of the most recorded buildings in the country so assuming the shell survives it should be possible to recreate it… But, not the same. I loved that feeling of connection it had.

It’s very sad and probably one of the most architecturally important buildings in Glasgow.

Or even the World. It’s amazing how much coverage it’s been getting all over.

What’s so sad about this building in particular is that most architects design buildings – CRM designed everything, from the doorknobs to the chairs to the light fittings. The shell can probably be saved, the interior is gone. Sure, with enough money it can be recreated, but it won’t be the same.

What is heartening is all the offers of help – there’s a register of conservators with dozens and dozens of names all volunteering to help.

probably one of the most architecturally important buildings in Glasgow.

Probably in western architecture.