The reaction to both devastating fires reverberated around the world
“MANY students and staff watched in tears on Friday as flames tore through the sandstone Art Nouveau building, designed by architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh and completed in 1909.”
This was the description from US news outlet The Washington Examiner on May 24, 2014, the day after fire engulfed the iconic Grade-a listed Mackintosh Building at the Glasgow School of Art.
The shock of seeing flames rage and plumes of smoke rise high above Mackintosh’s masterpiece of design – one of the UK’S most revered buildings – brought with it a sadness and sudden sense of loss which extended far beyond the Garnethill area of Glasgow.
News outlets across the globe were quick to report the blaze at the beloved institution.
Catalan daily El Periódico led with “Destruction of an emblematic work of ‘art nouveau’” in its report of the 2014 fire, which destroyed “an icon of European architecture in Glasgow”.
The newspaper said: “Pedestrians cried when they saw the fire in the Mackintosh Building. The most important work of the Scot Charles Rennie Mackintosh, more art than architecture for the majority of his compatriots, headquarters of the renowned Glasgow School of Art and jewel of the European 20th century, suffered a fire yesterday triggered by the explosion of a projector in the basement, as the students explained, which later extended through the west wing and consumed part of the library. Firefighters were fighting last night to control the flames and save the works of art inside.”
Meanwhile, Argentine daily Clarín – the second mostcirculated newspaper in the Spanish-speaking world – led simply with “Glasgow School of Art hit by fire. Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s iconic building was consumed by flames”.
In its report on the blaze, the newspaper wrote that “the building was built between 1897 and 1899 and is a reference for the British variant of Art Nouveau. The work shows a progressive reduction of linear geometry: Mackintosh’s taste for planes, volumes and geometric structure prevails.”
The sense of numbness and loss following the fire was felt across France, where Mackintosh spent the last four years of his life as a painter in Port-vendres on the Mediterranean coast. In its report a day after the 2014 fire, Le Monde labelled the Mackintosh Building both “a masterpiece of the 20th century” and “one of the most emblematic buildings of the emerging 20th century”.
Four years on, the Mackintosh building was extensively damaged when a fire broke out late on June 15, 2018, as it neared the end of a £35 million restoration project following the previous fire.
Once more, the impact of the 2018 fire reverberated.
“No victims reported after fire in Glasgow art school building,” informed Havana-based news site Cuba Debate in its report on how the fire caused “serious damage” to the historic building.
In Italy, Turin’s La Stampa reported how “the most famous art school in the world” had been devastated by fire, while Mexico City-based daily Excélsior said the “iconic” Mackintosh building was “cursed”.