The question of the next step for the Glasgow School of Art (GSA), which was ravaged by a fire last month, is dividing artists and architects who are torn over whether the landmark Art Nouveau building should be rebuilt, remain as ruins or be replaced by a new art school. The local artist and GSA alumnus Nathan Coley tells The Art Newspaper: “We have a great architect [Mackintosh], and a tested world-class design. The ‘Mack’ must be rebuilt. Imagine the signal it would send to the world if we didn’t.”
The GSA, which is considered Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s masterpiece, was completed in 1909. More than 120 firefighters tackled the fire—the second blaze to hit the historic site in four years—the cause of which is still unknown.
“The investigations by Police Scotland, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and the Health and Safety Executive [are] a hugely complex event so we wouldn’t expect to hear anything about the causes of the fire for some significant time,” a GSA spokeswoman tells us.
“We have been focusing on getting the building stable so that our local community can get back into their homes and business premises as soon as possible and making sure that the work of the GSA can continue,” she adds. Postgraduate students were back on campus last week and the commencement of work to stabilise the building is imminent, the spokeswoman says. Read more