Fire wrecks historic Scottish art school
The front (north) facade of Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s Glasgow School of Art on Renfrew Street, Garnethill in Glasgow, Scotland. Taken by Finlay McWalter on May 7, 2004. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
All students and staff were safely evacuated from the Glasgow School of Art, officials said, after the fire sent smoke and flames billowing into the air.
Several people were in tears as they watched the inferno rage through the century-old building, whose alumni include “Doctor Who” actor Peter Capaldi.
“Awful to see destruction of this iconic building and students’ work,” Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond said.
The cause of the fire was not immediately clear.
Glasgow-born architect and designer Rennie Mackintosh (1868-1928) was a leading exponent of Art Nouveau, whose distinctive lines and lettering remain influential.
He won a competition to design the building in 1897 and it took around 10 years to complete but is now a landmark in the city, with special government-protected status.
Around 20,000 visitors from around the world visit the Mackintosh building each year, according to the school’s website.
# # #
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
The front (north) facade of Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s Glasgow School of Art on Renfrew Street, Garnethill in Glasgow, Scotland. Taken by Finlay McWalter on May 7, 2004. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
