The near destruction of one of Scotland’s most iconic buildings — the Glasgow School of Art (GSA) — caused a public outpouring of emotion that seemed remarkable given there were no casualties. When the firefighters departed after a week, crowds lined the streets to applaud them. Students and former students were among those moved to tears by the blackened exterior. Pictures taken inside, of the much-admired and now obliterated library, were labelled “heartbreaking” by politicians.
The fire happened as the students were preparing for their end-of-year degree show in May 2014: gases from a foam canister were sucked into a hot projector and ignited; the blaze then spread through old ventilation ducts in the west wing. At its height, 200 firefighters battled the conflagration. That
