Glasgow School of Art on fire again (June 2018)

[dessiato]

http://gsapress.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/statement-from-muriel-gray-on-state-of.html

From Muriel Gray:

This moved me.

 

[8ball]

Possibly, although scanning isn't always possible. As I said upthread, both the University of Glasgow and Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum have archives of their own. Pickman's model also posted an archive holdings list.

Do you mean the other thread, maybe?

 

[equationgirl]

Do you mean the other thread, maybe?

I do, you're right.

It's confusing having two threads.

 

[ViolentPanda]

Understand that the Archive/Library is in the part most affected - So that's a lot of important historic material likely destroyed as well.

Caught something on the radio suggesting it started from a polystyrene fire in a final year student's installation in the basement.

The whole fire is probably a conceptual art piece by one of the students.

 

[8ball]

I do, you're right.

It's confusing having two threads.

I think we're due a merge, maybe, if any mods are watching.

 

[Cid]

I know it's still a loss of historic materials, but won't important documents etc. have been scanned/digitised and retained off site?

Real shame about the library, though - hope they put it back as it was.

Possibly, although scanning isn't always possible. As I said upthread, both the University of Glasgow and Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum have archives of their own. Pickman's model also posted an archive holdings list.

On the other thread, but doesn't seem to be working... The library website says:

The Mackintosh Library houses some of the larger, oversized books from our Special Collections, along with all our pre-1985 journals. It also houses publications on and by the School's staff and students, both past and present, along with graduating students’ degree show catalogues. Rare and archival items, including periodicals dating back to the early 19th century and publications about Charles Rennie Mackintosh are also housed here.

I imagine anything in the library itself will be gone, but hopefully they don't store important or irreplaceable work in a section of the building which has er... become more a tourist attraction than a working space (only open for study once a week). The archives themselves will have had a lot of work that either isn't properly represented in digital form (paintings, drawings etc) or is actually impossible to digitise (textiles, models etc). Even with pure text stuff there's clearly a lot of information lost when an original is destroyed (Pickman's and eg would know more about that). And, of course, original works have a value beyond purely the information they contain.

The same can be said of the library to an extent - it's extremely well documented and the drawings are certainly available, but there are layers of history there that will be lost. Hidden bits where makers have left some kind of signature, pencil marks, choice of one piece of timber over another; details that would reveal a lot about the people who worked on it and the techniques they used. But there are still people working in broadly the same way; the machines used for roughing out etc have changed, but plenty still using the hand techniques for finishing. It remains to be seen whether they'll do that though, it would be expensive and time-consuming. There are essentially two options; a full restoration using traditional techniques or a replica using more modern materials (e.g veneer onto a fireproof MDF substrate for wall panels, CNC all the details etc). Also they may choose to restore it to exactly the way it looked before the fire (i.e using stains and other artificial aging media) rather than making it as it originally was. Needs someone who really knows what they're doing in charge, there'll be plenty available, but it may end up being something of a political appointment.

 

[Cid]

I think we're due a merge, maybe, if any mods are watching.

mango5 ?

 

[Pickman's model]

I know it's still a loss of historic materials, but won't important documents etc. have been scanned/digitised and retained off site?

probably not. have all the important documents where you work been digitised etc? i doubt it.

 

[equationgirl]

probably not. have all the important documents where you work been digitised etc? i doubt it.

I found out this week that one of the departments decided to free up all their storage space by putting all their documents, microfiche and microfilm into a shipping container in the carpark.

It's not watertight.

 

[Pickman's model]

I found out this week that one of the departments decided to free up all their storage space by putting all their documents, microfiche and microfilm into a shipping container in the carpark.

It's not watertight.

mould problems as well as other water damage beckons.

 

[8ball]

probably not. have all the important documents where you work been digitised etc? i doubt it.

Probably not all, but someone would be having words if mission-critical stuff that wasn't from the last few days got lost in the event of a fire.
Our job isn't even the archiving of stuff, though - this is just for regulatory reasons.

 

[equationgirl]

mould problems as well as other water damage beckon.

At the very least. I'm not convinced much will be salvageable to be honest - it'll be my next job to sort out.

Not to mention when we stuck a lot of things onto microfilm in the 1980s we told the microfilm company to destroy the originals.

 

[Pickman's model]

At the very least. I'm not convinced much will be salvageable to be honest - it'll be my next job to sort out.

Not to mention when we stuck a lot of things onto microfilm in the 1980s we told the microfilm company to destroy the originals.

the microfilm may be ok. but the boxes - and labels - may not be, meaning that it could be very difficult to find out what you've got. and that's assuming the film and fiche is ok. the documents likely fucked. if they've been in there for a while then the heat and damp could have left one horrible mess.

 

[equationgirl]

the microfilm may be ok. but the boxes - and labels - may not be, meaning that it could be very difficult to find out what you've got. and that's assuming the film and fiche is ok. the documents likely fucked. if they've been in there for a while then the heat and damp could have left one horrible mess.

I'm assuming it's going to be a horrible soggy mess to be honest, so anything that can be saved will be a bonus.

 

[TheHoodedClaw]

Well, damn

Major fire ravages Glasgow School of Art

 

[Wilf]

Bloody hell! Hope nobody was hurt most of all, but that's just tragic for the building.

 

[equationgirl]

No no no no no no no no. This is devastating. The restoration was well underway in the damaged part.

This looks like the whole thing has gone up. Arson?

 

[equationgirl]

One week after mackintosh's 150th anniversary of his birth too...

 

[equationgirl]

Nearby sauchiehall Street has been evacuated, according to local news and national media reports. It's an area that's very popular with students at night, at least one nightclub, a gig venue, as well as many bars and eating places.

Can't believe this is happening again.

 

[UrbaneFox]

 

[Sunset Tree]

The painstaking work that has gone into restoring this, what a loss.

 

[Yossarian]

Sad, this looked like an amazing building.

 

[pseudonarcissus]

No no no no no no no no. This is devastating. The restoration was well underway in the damaged part.

This looks like the whole thing has gone up. Arson?

Surely it’s an insurance job?...one fire is misfortune....knock it down and build a shopping centre

Unbelievable. I suspect it won’t recover from this. I’m not sure they deserve to

 

[Yossarian]

Surely it’s an insurance job?...one fire is misfortune....knock it down and build a shopping centre

Unbelievable. I suspect it won’t recover from this. I’m not sure they deserve to

Not sure if there was anything sinister happening here - apparently there was a network of timber-lined ducts that helped the fire spread quickly last time, and now that it was a building site, with all the associated fire hazards, maybe another blaze isn't all that surprising, though it definitely seems like there must have been some massive failures on the part of whoever was supposed to prevent a repeat.

 

[dessiato]

So very sad that one year from opening it's all happening again. It sounds as if the fire is much worse too.

 

[albionism]

Developers must really want that spot.

 

[Baronage-Phase]

The most beautiful building in Glasgow....arguably in Scotland..... I hitched my way over there when I was 19 and in love with all things Macintosh.
To have the extraordinary honour of being in such a building....there needed to be a tremendous amount of care of it.
And this...to me...looks like the result of extraordinary carelessness Criminal ...possibly?

 

[TheHoodedClaw]

Nearby sauchiehall Street has been evacuated, according to local news and national media reports. It's an area that's very popular with students at night, at least one nightclub, a gig venue, as well as many bars and eating places.

Looks like the ABC has gone too. Guess someone really wants that bit of real estate this time.

 

[Cid]

Not sure if there was anything sinister happening here - apparently there was a network of timber-lined ducts that helped the fire spread quickly last time, and now that it was a building site, with all the associated fire hazards, maybe another blaze isn't all that surprising, though it definitely seems like there must have been some massive failures on the part of whoever was supposed to prevent a repeat.

Yep, especially given that there are probably a bunch of more old school trades/restorers on site. But also on your second point, yep - even if this turned out to be arson - it seems a colossal fuck-up by whoever is managing the build.

 

[Red Cat]

That's awful. How sad.