STONE buildings that have been destroyed can be rebuilt, as many projects across Europe have shown.
In the aftermath of the second disastrous fire at the Glasgow School of Art's Mackintosh Building, several observers have pointed to buildings which have risen from the ashes to be working buildings again.
The Mackintosh Building is well documented and plans and drawings for a possible reconstruction are available to the Glasgow School of Art
Although no two buildings are directly comparable, and comparing damage from fire or destruction is also not an exact science, some have pointed to the beautiful church in Dresden, the Frauenkirche, which was destroyed in World War Two.
It lay in ruins for more than forty years, until 1989, when committed Dresdners founded a citizen action group for rebuilding the Dresden Frauenkirche and, on 13 February 1990, published an ‘Appeal from Dresden’, a document which inspired a remarkable revival.
In the open letter, they emphasised their will to begin rebuilding the Dresden Frauenkirche after 45 years of absence from the city.
Supportive groups and circles of friends formed both across Germany and abroad to raise money for the epic reconstruction.
In March 1991, the synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the State of Saxony officially resolved to join the Foundation for Rebuilding the Dresden Frauenkirche.
In February 1992, the state capital of Dresden said it would support the rebuilding project with funding and other support, and in 1994, reconstruction began, being completed in 2005, at a cost of around £157m.
Closer to Glasgow, Raasay House, on Raasay, was gutted by a disastrous fire in 2009, days before renovation works were due to be completed.
Like the 'Mack' it was during a period of planned renovation that disaster struck.
The fire caused a significant amount of damage, leaving all but the west section of the building a roofless shell.
The 250 year old property, which once belonged to the Clan Macleod, was then the subject of a £4.5m restoration, with funding from the Big Lottery Fund, among others.
Raasay House owners Raasay Community Company implemented the works, working alongside the Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), the Scottish Government’s economic and community development agency.
It re-opened in 2014, despite suffering a setback when its original contractors, Rok, went into liquidation in 2010.
The Community Company was formed in 2006 and, using the Land Reform Act, bought Raasay House, its policies and walled garden, from HIE in December 2007.
The Isle of Raasay Twitter feed noted: "The Glasgow School of Art fire is a national tragedy.
"9 years ago, Raasay felt similar loss when the newly-restored Raasay house was gutted by fire, days before opening. The damage seemed insurmountable.
"But against all odds we rebuilt, as strong as ever. The best is yet to be."
Another example may be the Blackheads House in Riga, Latvia, which was also destroyed in the Second World War.
It was bombed to ruins in 1941 and its remains demolished in 1948. However, after many years, efforts were begun to rebuild, and it was reconstructed, as it was, between 1995 and 1999.
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