Scottish architect launches campaign to rebuild Mackintosh Building

Scottish architect Ruairidh Moir has launched a campaign to rebuild the fire-torn Mackintosh Building at the Glasgow School of Art, calling on "an independent body to own and take forward the project".

The campaign calls for the building's ownership to be transferred to an independent organisation to deliver a "faithful restoration and reinstatement". It also asks the Scottish and UK governments for financial assistance.

At the time of writing, it has 5,406 signatures. The target is 100,000, at which stage the petition will be "hand-delivered" to both Scottish and UK Governments and the board of Glasgow School of Art (GSA).

The campaign follows GSA's recent announcement that it cannot afford to rebuild the iconic Mackintosh Building, known affectionately as The Mack, without external funding.

Moir, a conservation architect and founder of Glasgow studio BARD, said he initiated the petition to "reflect the views of many people who have cared deeply about the school for years".

"We owe it to Charles Rennie Mackintosh"

"There has been frustration at the GSA's stewardship of the building, both before the fires and in the years that have followed," Moir told Dezeen.

"The recent statements by the School of Art governors have galvanised many to step forward and unite to remove the obstructions and demonstrate support for Mackintosh's masterpiece," he continued.

The fire-torn art school is the best-known building designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Scotland's most famous architect.

A fire ripped through the building in 2014, before a second and more destructive fire occurred during a £35 million restoration project in 2018.

Shortly after the second blaze, the former director of the GSA Tom Inns said that it would be rebuilt. But restoration works are now on hold.

In Moir's view, it needs to be rebuilt as "it is genuinely one of the finest achievements of architecture".

"The Mack must be rebuilt because it is so important. Architecture of such renowned and recognised quality is not that common. This one sits amongst the very highest tier of architectural achievement and is beloved," he explained.

"We owe it to Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh, Fra Newbery, and to all those who have loved the building; to our culture and heritage; and to our sense of self, to get this right for Scotland and for the world."

GSA has "continually failed"

While the campaign calls for the ownership of the building to be transferred, it also states the building should be made available "on a lease-back arrangement to GSA" to make sure it can remain as an art school.

Moir added that a panel of experts would need to be created to advise a new design and project team.

"The need for an independent body to own and take forward the project, protecting it for future generations, is borne out by the fact that the GSA board has continually failed to deliver it," explained Moir.

"There is understandably little confidence in allowing the body that has failed Mackintosh's masterpiece in this way to have a third attempt. Time for a fresh start."

For Moir, the thought of the school being left as a ruin "leaves [him] cold".

While there is also always a risk of pastiche in reconstruction work, the architect believes it can be achieved to the same quality as the original.

"There are huge challenges in achieving it, but the will, finance, client, leadership and skills all need to be there for a successful outcome," he said. "We cannot allow incompatible or phoney materials to be used; it must be authentic to the way Mackintosh left it for us to care for."

"Few buildings are as comprehensively recorded as the School of Art. Backing away from a full and faithful reinstatement because of loose arguments around pastiche or authenticity would, in my view, be a profound mistake. We have almost everything at our fingertips to faithfully reinstate the building."

Since GSA's announcement, many industry figures have spoken out with views similar to Moir. Among them was British designer Thomas Heatherwick, who compared the need to rebuild to Notre-Dame Cathedral.

"To accept a diminished future for it would show a worrying lack of cultural confidence," he wrote in an Instagram post shared by Humanise.

"When Notre-Dame burned, Paris didn't shrug and scale down its ambition. It responded with imagination, leadership and national will. Paris came out stronger afterwards," he said.

"Let's all urge the Scottish Government, Glasgow City Council, businesses, funders, cultural leaders and communities to work together with GSA to find a way to restore the Mackintosh Building with the care, seriousness and ambition it deserves."

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