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Hours after an immense fire consumed the National Museum in Rio de Janeiro, a crowd of protestors gathered in front of the wrecked institution on last night (3 September) to protest the financial neglect that led to its demise. The 200-year-old historical building lacked an efficient sprinkler system—a result of years of incremental budget cuts by the Brazilian government—and was quickly gutted when the blaze erupted shortly after the museum closed to visitors on Sunday (2 September). — theartnewspaper.com
Current Brazilian president Michel Temer and former president Rousseff are being blamed for a failure to properly maintain the National Museum in Rio De Janeiro after a consuming fire broke out 3 days ago. In the aftermath of the flames the museum's facade has mostly survived, yet aerial shots... View full entry
Hundreds of families displaced by Northern California’s fires could face another challenge to rebuilding their homes — a persistent shortage of construction workers.
California lost nearly 20 percent of its construction work force between 2005 and 2016 [...]. And more than 40 percent of construction job postings in the state remain unfilled for at least six weeks, according to the study, the third longest wait in the nation.
— The Mercury News
California's housing crisis will only get exacerbated as several devastating wildfires are ripping through entire regions of the Golden State while construction firms are struggling to hire enough workers to rebuild communities. According to Cal Fire, more than a thousand homes have already been... View full entry
Following a devastating fire that broke out last month, the Glasgow School of Art has begun dismantling parts of the celebrated Mackintosh building that were comprised by the damage caused by the flames and at risk of sudden collapse. In a statement on the progress of the disassembly, the school... View full entry
Glasgow School of Art’s Mackintosh building, which was gutted by fire last month, will be rebuilt, the school’s director has told the Guardian.
The commitment by Tom Inns ends weeks of speculation about the fate of the 110-year-old building, after many experts raised fears that the scale of the blaze would make it impossible to rescue and rebuild it.
— The Guardian
"We’re going to rebuild the Mackintosh building," GSoA director Tom Inns told The Guardian in his first interview since the June 16 fire. "There’s been a huge amount of speculation about what should happen with the site and quite rightly so, but from our point of view and that of the city... View full entry
Earlier this month, a devastating blaze ripped through the celebrated Mackintosh building, threatening one of the world's finest examples of art nouveau design. The library, which was the crown jewel of Mackintosh’s vision for GSA, was currently undergoing an extensive restoration following... View full entry
The surviving shell of Glasgow School of Art’s Mackintosh building, devastated by fire last weekend, is expected to be saved from demolition, council officials have said. [...] Fire crews are still working on the last remaining hotspots and are not expected to allow investigators, damage assessors and structural engineers into the structure until Wednesday at the earliest. — The Guardian
After the Glasgow School of Art's Mackintosh building suffered through yet another devastating fire last Friday night, the art school, Glasgow City Council, and Historic Environment Scotland are coming to an agreement that the building should be saved. However, this does not mean a decision... View full entry
Flames ripped through the celebrated Mackintosh building after it caught fire at about 23:20 on Friday. The blaze spread to nearby buildings, including the Campus nightclub and O2 ABC music venue, which suffered "extensive damage". The renovated Mackintosh library had been due to reopen next year. — BBC News
An abandoned 26-story building in downtown Sao Paulo, Brazil, caught fire and collapsed early Tuesday, showering the surrounding streets with fiery embers and killing at least one person, firefighters said.
About 150 firefighters were battling the blaze, which started at about 1:30 a.m. local time. It is thought to have been caused by a gas explosion, according to reports.
— NPR
Though officially abandoned as the former São Paulo headquarters of the federal police, about 50 families were believed to have occupied the building as squatters. Most people have reportedly managed to get out, however at least one person died in the building collapse, firefighters said... View full entry
Over the last few months, the team at Forensic Architecture, housed at London’s Goldsmiths University in Lewisham, has been working to piece together data and footage from the event using a mixture of video and imagery from Youtube, Periscope and other forms of social media, as well as footage from Sky News, which is a partner on the project. — Wired
In June of 2017 the Grenfell Tower fire killed 71 in the London public housing block. Criminal investigations are still ongoing with no one yet held accountable. Forensic Architecture has taken on the case in order to piece together how the fire spread within minutes throughout the... View full entry
[...] according to a U.K. government press release published Thursday, the site will become a formal memorial to the fire’s victims.
The announcement of the plan—which could also see the nearby Latimer Road Tube station renamed to Grenfell—strikes the right note so far, making it clear that residents of the West London housing project will get the deciding say on any kind of memorial that happens on the tower’s site.
— citylab.com
While the memorial signals a commitment to remembrance and honoring the victims, the article points out the shortcomings in the official response, the display of incompetence, the ongoing hardship for Grenfell Tower's former residents, and the still looming fire hazard of countless other... View full entry
A 30m-tall Gothic cathedral built of branches and twigs that was set alight on Saturday (17 February) causing controversy in Russia. The burning took place at Nikola-Lenivets, a rural artists’ colony 200km south of Moscow, and was the culmination of pre-Lenten carnival festivities known as Maslenitsa. The event is often likened to the US Burning Man festival. — theartnewspaper.com
Artist Nikolay Polissky, founder of Nikola-Lenivets, creates impressive land art installations to burn for Russia's Maslenitsa festival each year. This Russian folk tradition is celebrated during the last week before Lent and traditionally ends with the burning of a scarecrow. This year, the... View full entry
After a seemingly perfect start to the season, with temperatures well below the freezing point, Quebec City's ice hotel was hit by one of its fiercest opponents: fire.
A small blaze broke out in one of the hotel's 45 guest rooms early Tuesday morning, forcing the evacuation of the structure, made completely out of ice, at the Village Vacances Valcartier winter park.
"When I received the phone call they had to repeat twice that there was a fire in the ice hotel," said manager Jacques Desbois.
— CBC News
The fire was quickly extinguished and nobody was injured, however hotel operations had to be halted for a few days to remove smoke damage throughout the structure and buff up the snow and ice walls. CBC News reports that this was the first fire incident in the 17-season history of the Quebec City... View full entry
The fires raging in Los Angeles County and Ventura are an urgent signal that we need to start asking the hard questions — about the true cost of expanding the local tax base with new residences in high fire hazard zones. We need to stop having the same conversation over and over again, a conversation laced with non-sequiturs and focused on outdated, ineffective solutions. — latimes.com
The fires consuming California homes are located in wildland areas, where developers continue to spread cities further. Planning agencies should be the first line of action, not firefighters. View full entry
A new wildfire closed part of Interstate 405 early Wednesday near Los Angeles' posh Bel Air area and prompted evacuations [...]
The closure of I-405 -- a significant north-south artery in the country's second-largest city -- came after flames swept down the foothills toward the highway near Sepulveda Pass and the Getty Center arts complex as stunned motorists drove by shortly before 6 a.m.
— CNN
The Richard Meier-designed Getty Center — scheduled to celebrate its 20th anniversary on December 16 — woke up to a terrifying scene before sunrise this morning with the neighboring hillscape ablaze... View full entry
At the center of the royal funeral is a $30 million, nine-spire structure where the beloved monarch’s body will be cremated. For months now, legions of Thai architects, designers, artisans, and craftsmen have been working on the funeral complex in Bangkok’s Sanam Luang field. They’ve erected a series of golden pavilions festooned by thousands of elaborate sculptures, textiles, art works and sandalwood flowers. — Quartz
Architect Theerachat Weerayuttanon and art technician Korkiat Thongphut of the Thai Ministry of Culture — and fervent devotees of the country's late King Bhumibol Adulyadej — worked feverishly to present a crematorium design fit for a deity when they were tasked with the job only hours after... View full entry