Mackintosh Building – 2024
‘Burnt School’ – Mackintosh Building, Glasgow School of Art – Part 2
I first wrote about the ‘Burnt School’, aka the Mackintosh Building, Glasgow School of Art, in July 2019, just a little over a year following the second (even more devastating) fire which succeeded in destroying what the first fire (in May 2014) failed to achieve. At that time I expressed my doubts on the plan to ‘rebuild as new’ which had been proposed but was quite impressed by the immense scaffolding structure that had been created to prevent what hadn’t been destroyed from falling down.
It was just under five years later I next had the opportunity to witness, first hand, the ‘progress’ that had been made in the intervening period. And I must admit I was disappointed.
From the outside the only obvious difference was the installation of white plastic sheeting covering the whole of the scaffolding (something I had suggested in my post in 2019 but at that time with the idea that it should be turned into an artistic project – after all we are talking about an Art School) which now hides the complexity of the structure underneath.
From what I was able to glean, from checking the internet in March of this year, all that had been achieved in the five years between my visits was the stabilisation of the building. That meant no ‘restoration’ work as such had been started but the structure was then considered to be safe for workers to begin the recreation of the ‘iconic’ (how I hate that word) Glasgow landmark.
However, between my visit earlier this year and the time of writing this post another ‘hiccup’ has placed the whole future of the project in some serious doubt. The insurers don’t want to cough up.
The fact the building has not been fully functional for more than ten years would make a rational person come to the conclusion that the original rebuild plan might have to be scrapped. But not the Glaswegian artistic ‘elite’. In place of accepting that the plan is now becoming too ambitious, too expensive and there being serious doubts whether it will even be possible to achieve the chair of the school’s board, Muriel Gray, has stated that the rebuilding of the Mackintosh is ‘non-negotiable’. It seems that it’s become the norm in our society that when faced with insurmountable odds the reaction of the ‘elite’ is to ‘double-down’ – as we see with the US/UK/NATO/EU coalition when it comes to the conflict in the Ukraine.
It is increasingly looking as if all the money that has already been spent (I’ve seen the figure of £18 million) has just been wasted. If common sense had been in place from the day after the second blaze then instead of looking back to the past the Glasgow School of Art could have looked to the future. Perhaps they could have found an architect, or group of architects (as it seems that even for the original building Charles Rennie Mackintosh didn’t work entirely alone – as is generally thought – but worked in collaboration with two other architects from the same architectural practice, John Honeyman and John Keppie) who could come up with an equally startling and interesting building to fill the gap in the Glaswegian skyline for the next hundred or so years. It would be hoped that in such a circumstance one of the specifications would be a significant element of fire-proofing.
That would be my suggestion – but then who am I to question the wisdom of the school governors who managed to allow a building they love so much to burn down not once but twice.
But I’m not entirely alone when it comes to questioning the current, reactionary thinking. An article I only came across recently, although it had been published in July 2018, also suggested that the building should be left to rest in peace.
With the recent delays and the fact the insurers don’t want to pay (surprise, surprise!) perhaps those who have the final say in Glasgow should be seriously re-thinking the plan they came up with, on the spur of the moment and without rational thought, way back in the summer of 2018.
As it is the ruined art school building (despite its plastic sheeting) and the derelict buildings on Sauciehall Street – the old ballroom and shops which were burnt out at the same time and which remain in place as, presumably, they are in some way still holding up the shell – are just a blot on the landscape.
Update 8th August 2024
A few days after writing the above I came across an article which reported that there is now planning permission to demolish the building (serving as a night club at the time) which was also seriously damaged when the Art School caught alight in 2018. Yet more student accommodation will be built in its place.
