Sunday, May 25, 2014

Mourning...

The loss of a legacy.

The library in the Charles Rennie Mackintosh Building,
Glasgow School of Art, destroyed by fireFriday, May 23, 2014.

It's reported that the School's archives are safe, and the majority of the building is intact.  Students who were graduating have lost much -- if not all -- of their work -- even as a new fire prevention system was due to be installed.  Kudos are being given to the firefighters:
"Due to one of the most astonishingly intelligent and professional pieces of strategy by the fire services, they succeeded in protecting the vast majority of the building, apparently by forming a human wall of firefighters up the west end of the main staircase and containing the fire." -  Muriel Gray, broadcaster, former student, and current Chair of the Art School.
I visited Glasgow in May 2007, and saw this building for myself... Long an admirer of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, who bears a strong resemblance to my grandfather, Frederick M. Rennie, and whose mother bore my name (her name, Margaret Rennie, is my maiden name), I recently finished this tribute to his Glasgow Rose motif:

Mackintosh's Garden: Hardy to Zone 3 (C) 2014

With God's blessing, this Phoenix will also rise from the ashes...


6 comments:

Kit Lang said...

I'm sorry for your loss. Your tribute is beautiful.

Maggi said...

Such a loss. I'm glad that they were able to save as much as they did but I feel for the students who lost so much of their work.

elle said...

aw! Lets hear it for the Pheonix!

Judy Warner said...

How sad to lose so much; glad to hear the uplifting story of saving so much.

Jenny K. Lyon said...

Kit said it so well. I join you in your mourning. Beautifully written post.

Jo Ferguson said...

This is such a tragic loss. It's now time to rebuild and honour the firefighters, who saved, so much. The phoenix is a very resilient bird.