By — Lorna Baldwin Lorna Baldwin Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/fire-engulfs-iconic-art-nouveau-building-school-scotland Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Fire engulfs iconic Art Nouveau building and school in Scotland World May 23, 2014 6:51 PM EDT Firefighters in Glasgow, Scotland today battled to save what they could of the Glasgow School of Art, one of Scotland’s most famous and treasured buildings. The main doors of the Glasgow School of Art. Photo by Flickr user Charlie Rapple. Designed by architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh, the sandstone building is not only a working art school, but a work of art itself, as a sterling example of the Art Nouveau style. The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service issued an update tonight to say about 90 percent of the structure is viable, and 70 percent of the contents have been saved. The BBC and other news outlets reported the Mackintosh building caught fire this afternoon when a projector in the basement exploded. There was speculation that the explosion ignited a foam-based material. Students were in the process of setting up their final projects for a year-end display when the fire broke out. Many of the exhibits were the culmination of 4 years of work. Our sandstone castle at The Glasgow School of Art will stand tall again. An emotional day seeing fire in the Mackintosh masterwork @GSofA — Kitty Byrne (@kitty_byrne) May 23, 2014 All students and teachers were evacuated from the building, and there were no reports of injuries. Many stood in the streets outside watching as firefighters fought to contain the flames. Want to see the art school’s famous library as it appeared before the fire? The Guardian has a 360 degree interactive panorama here. We're not going anywhere. Stand up for truly independent, trusted news that you can count on! Donate now By — Lorna Baldwin Lorna Baldwin Lorna Baldwin is an Emmy and Peabody award winning producer at the PBS NewsHour. In her two decades at the NewsHour, Baldwin has crisscrossed the US reporting on issues ranging from the water crisis in Flint, Michigan to tsunami preparedness in the Pacific Northwest to the politics of poverty on the campaign trail in North Carolina. Farther afield, Baldwin reported on the problem of sea turtle nest poaching in Costa Rica, the distinctive architecture of Rotterdam, the Netherlands and world renowned landscape artist, Piet Oudolf. @lornabaldwin
Firefighters in Glasgow, Scotland today battled to save what they could of the Glasgow School of Art, one of Scotland’s most famous and treasured buildings. The main doors of the Glasgow School of Art. Photo by Flickr user Charlie Rapple. Designed by architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh, the sandstone building is not only a working art school, but a work of art itself, as a sterling example of the Art Nouveau style. The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service issued an update tonight to say about 90 percent of the structure is viable, and 70 percent of the contents have been saved. The BBC and other news outlets reported the Mackintosh building caught fire this afternoon when a projector in the basement exploded. There was speculation that the explosion ignited a foam-based material. Students were in the process of setting up their final projects for a year-end display when the fire broke out. Many of the exhibits were the culmination of 4 years of work. Our sandstone castle at The Glasgow School of Art will stand tall again. An emotional day seeing fire in the Mackintosh masterwork @GSofA — Kitty Byrne (@kitty_byrne) May 23, 2014 All students and teachers were evacuated from the building, and there were no reports of injuries. Many stood in the streets outside watching as firefighters fought to contain the flames. Want to see the art school’s famous library as it appeared before the fire? The Guardian has a 360 degree interactive panorama here. We're not going anywhere. Stand up for truly independent, trusted news that you can count on! Donate now