After the tragic fire that tore through Charles Rennie Mackintosh's Glasgow School of Art last week, thoughts have now turned to the future of the building and the process of restoration. It seems that many people in the profession are in favour of a faithful restoration: John McAslan, who has previously worked on restoring one of Mackintosh's buildings in Northampton, saying that "it is not the time and place to interpret Mackintosh", and former GSA student and ex-director of FAT Sam Jacob commenting that the building "hadn't been turned into a museum piece" and therefore "a faithful restoration is exactly the right thing to do."
Though there has been one dissenting voice from George Cairns, a professor at Melbourne's RMIT who completed his PhD thesis on the building in 1992 and believes that a faithful restoration is impossible. In any case, this is what the Glasgow School of Art has resolved to do, and they have received a number of offers of help. Read on after the break to find out what's being done, and what you can do to help, after the break.
The Art Newspaper reports that a "small army" of over 100 volunteers and conservation experts is on hand to assist the operation, after a plea for help put out by the Institute of Conservation while the fire was still raging. Monetary support has been offered by the UK Government who have pledged an amount "in the millions, if necessary" as well as by the Scottish Government, who have pledged to match the value raised through public funding up to a value of £5 million. You can contribute to this public fund through the School's page at The Big Give.
The fund for the school reports that "it is not yet clear what the financial need shall be, but it is likely to be significant."
Story via Metropolis Magazine, The Art Newspaper, Herald Scotland, and the Architects' Journal
