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Latest. I don't even want to look at these.
* * * * * * * The Tradarch List is an open forum for the discussion of the theory and practice of traditional architecture; It is affiliated with the Certificate in Classical Architecture at the University of Miami School of Architecture. Please direct enquiries to the listowner, Dr Richard John ([log in to unmask]). To join (or leave) the listserv, or to browse its archives, visit www.tradarch.net.It's being reported on the BBC here:
Dreadful news about the library. Tremendously sad to hear of the loss of this jewel like space which is so central to an understanding of Mackintosh. But it is very well documented and can be rebuilt - though the patina of 105 years will be lost. Thankful indeed about the archives.
Murial Gray, chair of GSA, says library lost, archives safe, millions pledged by public agencies for reconstruction.
Sent from my iPhone* * * * * * * The Tradarch List is an open forum for the discussion of the theory and practice of traditional architecture; It is affiliated with the Certificate in Classical Architecture at the University of Miami School of Architecture. Please direct enquiries to the listowner, Dr Richard John ([log in to unmask]). To join (or leave) the listserv, or to browse its archives, visit www.tradarch.net.I am told by a friend with Glaswegian connections that a fair amount of furniture from the library was saved, and several examples of carved decor and other craftwork were hacked off and saved as exempla for rebuilding. No word on the archival materials. Several of the best water colors have been on loan and may not have been in the building. Digitization of small works was being done on premises. Larger works were being digitized elsewhere, but no word on what was where.
Sent from Roy Lewis's iPad* * * * * * * The Tradarch List is an open forum for the discussion of the theory and practice of traditional architecture; It is affiliated with the Certificate in Classical Architecture at the University of Miami School of Architecture. Please direct enquiries to the listowner, Dr Richard John ([log in to unmask]). To join (or leave) the listserv, or to browse its archives, visit www.tradarch.net.Was the fure caused by art students' use of "innovative" materials?
Audun Engh
- Students have said that fire started in basement when projector exploded, and ignited an artist's expanding foam
Sendt fra min iPhoneA good selection of post-fire damage. Look about halfway down - you can see the roof over the library is gone. I can’t imagine it survived.
Gregory Walker
On May 23, 2014, at 8:33 PM, Lucy Minogue Rowland <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
I pass this on from the Traditional Architecture listserv that provides information on the structural issues of the building. It also includes some archival information.
Lucy Minogue Rowland, MS, MLS
Professor Emerita
Director, Louis T. Griffith Library
Georgia Museum of Art
90 Carlton Street
Athens, GA 30602
[log in to unmask]
From: Traditional Architecture Listserv List <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Niall Murphyniallgi <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, May 23, 2014 6:46 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Glasgow School of Art is on FireThe statement says 70% of the contents have been saved. It's the 30% I worry about because I fear it is the library.
It can't possibly have survived. You could see through the windows that it was well ablaze and there is still smoke coming out of the library windows though the fire fighters were angling in jets of water from the roof of the Bourdon Building opposite so as to dowse it when the fire was at its height.
The fact that the roof above is gone is critical because the library structure was suspended from the roof trusses.
The structure is unusual in that the lecture theatre sits at the base of the west wing two floors below the library. For obvious reasons the lecture theatre has to be column free so the loadings for the library had to be transferred back up to roof level. The wooden columns that you see in photographs of the library actually just conceal the iron or steel hangers (I'd need to check). From recollection it was the floor above the library were the Mackintosh archive was held. I suspect the entire structure will have collapsed in upon itself when the elaborate roof trusses went.
I know that there was a conservator and archival programme to record as much of Mackintosh's output as possible so items were being digitized. I'm not sure how advanced that was though.
It is great news that no lives were lost and so much has been saved - a testament to the firefighters - but I suspect they are putting a brave face on it - the library is irreplaceable. It was the culmination of Mackintosh's achievement and the most profound space in the building. It is a major loss.
Roy, I looked deeper and the Mackintosh's archives are probably destroyed. We can only hope that some or all were digitized at some point, but that's doubtful unless there was enough money at some point to do so. In libraries and archives that is almost never unless a benefactor comes along and writes the check.
I looked at images of the beautiful art nouveau library, hoping that the books were shelved very tightly, but it looks like they were not, which means 100% destroyed. If books are tightly shelved, often they can be salvaged because there is no room for the fire to engulf the volumes, just the bindings. When University of Georgia Main Library had an arson fire in 2003, most of the books only needed cleaning and a few needed rebinding, if they were shelved tight. Of course, UGA has metal shelving, concrete walls and subflooring, and Mackintosh has/had mahogany shelves and paneling, and wood floors.
Oddly, I sent this out to the ARLIS (Art Librarians Society of North America) listserv about 11 am. No one knew about it until it was posted, but there were many who replied about the tremendous loss of the building and the library.
I'm afraid that the Mackintosh Library likely will not be salvaged. That is just heartbreaking on so many levels.
Lucy Minogue Rowland, MS, MLS
Professor Emerita
Director, Louis T. Griffith Library
Georgia Museum of Art
90 Carlton Street
Athens, GA 30602
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From: Traditional Architecture Listserv List <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Roy Lewis <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, May 23, 2014 4:45 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Glasgow School of Art is on Fire
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