Experts to Meet Over Glasgow School of Art Restoration

Glasgow Schol of Art Fire Photo: metro.co.uk

Architecture experts are due to meet in Venice to discuss plans for the restoration of the Glasgow School of Art’s (GSA) Mackintosh library, which was badly damaged by fire in May, the Telegraph has reported.

On May 23 the flames destroyed a tenth of the structure of the Grade A listed building and approximately 30 percent of its contents (“Glasgow School of Art Goes Up in Flames“). A £20 million fund-raising campaign has been started to fund the repairs of the fire damaged building.

A symposium will take place on October 18, coinciding with the 2014 International Venice Architecture Biennale. Key figures from the fields of architecture and cultural heritage have been invited to the Venice symposium to hold keynote speeches. The art school also plans to host a second meeting in Glasgow next spring.

Culture secretary Fiona Hyslop said “The symposium at Querini Stampalia, prior to the spring symposium in Glasgow, will provide an important opportunity with an international audience to discuss Mackintosh’s Glasgow School of Art and, in particular, to consider the highly sensitive challenges relating to the rebuild of its library.”

GSA officials said the two events will be “fundamental” to informing its construction plans. Professor Christopher Platt, head of the Mackintosh School of Architecture, added, “Any discussion must involve contributions from many different people and organizations from across the world…we have decided to focus on the topic of the Mackintosh library specifically as this is the most delicate and culturally and intellectually significant aspect of the entire post-fire work.”


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