The reconstruction of Glasgow’s ‘Mack’ is a work for all of the UK
The interior view up through the floors in the west side of the Glasgow School of Art's Mackintosh building in Glasgow (PA Images / Alamy Stock Photo)
4 min read
The beauty of the Glasgow School of Art's Mackintosh building is recognised all over the world. Its restoration is vital
When Notre Dame was consumed by flames in 2019, the French government threw the entire strength of the state into the effort of restoration.
Whatever it took, whatever it cost, the French summoned talents from all over the world and rebuilt that symbol of the nation in record time.
To visit the cathedral now, recast as sacred ground and not just a tourist attraction, is to be humbled by the craftsmanship and inspired by the sense of pride in the rebuild.
I want us to do the same for the Glasgow School of Art – for the UK government to put its hands under the restoration of Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s ruined masterpiece.
For over a decade, this internationally important building has stood in ruins. Scotland wept on 23 May 2014 as the news broke and the fire spread through the building, destroying the famous library, one of the finest examples of art nouveau design in the world.
The situation was grave, but a £35m restoration was nearly complete in June 2018 when a second fire ripped, engulfing the whole site. All that was left was the burnt-out shell of a grade I-listed building.
Scotland still grieves. Glasgow is in trauma over the loss of “the Mack”; an emotional pall still hangs over the city. The burnt-out shell is sealed in a plastic funeral shroud, a white cloak against the elements, while the Glasgow School of Art is at arbitration with the insurers.
The Mackintosh building, pictured before the 2014 fire (John Peter Photography / Alamy Stock Photo)
Its architectural beauty is recognised all over the world. Constructed in two phases, from 1897 to 1899 and again from 1907 to 1909, there has never been a building like it.
Mackintosh was only 29 when he started weaving strands of Japanese design, modernism and art nouveau into sheer genius. Unlike many other monumental buildings, it actually worked. For over a century, the Mackintosh was a practical teaching and studio space, producing some of the most talented artists the nation has seen.
Despite a global outpouring of support and donations after the first fire, the restoration project following the second fire suffered a series of setbacks. The art school, frustrated as everyone who loves the Mack, initiated an arbitration process with the insurers.
All of us, whether we have a direct connection or not, have a collective responsibility to bring Glasgow’s tragic ballad to an end
It is a complex case and does not take in the whole insurable cost of the building. Meanwhile, the meter is running on the cost of restoration. I am told revised costs and completion dates will become available later this year.
Leading architects and politicians, such as my good friend Paul Sweeney MSP, formerly a Glasgow MP, have expressed dismay at the lack of progress. They fear, as do many others, that the project is faltering.
The UK government shouldn’t bigfoot the art school or trample on the duties of the Scottish government. I am just calling for positive engagement from ministers to exercise the muscle of the whole UK and help find a solution.
Some have argued that the responsibility for restoration should be taken out of the hands of the arts school and placed in an independent body, such as a specialist board of trustees or an Olympic-style delivery system. Everyone should have the same destination, and that destination is restoration.
The song says the art school dance goes on forever, but all of us, whether we have a direct connection or not, have a collective responsibility to bring Glasgow’s tragic ballad to an end. It should be a shared endeavour with a shared sense of pride.
Evidence for what can be achieved is not far from us, in the Chamber of the House of Commons. Bombed out in 1941, faithfully restored after the war, it continues to work its political alchemy on us all.
That is what I want for the Mackintosh building, to rise from the rubble again, to work its artistic magic on students, on Scotland and the world.
Torcuil Crichton is Labour MP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar
