This month marks the third anniversary of the fire that took hold of Notre-Dame, Paris, on the night of 15th–16th April 2019, probably the result of an electrical fault. Would the shock of seeing flames rising through the cathedral be as traumatic if it happened now, after two years of the covid-19 pandemic and the horror of the Russian invasion of Ukraine? It has been a testing time for cultural heritage.
The reopening last month of the Burrell Collection, Glasgow, brought to a conclusion an ambitious museum renovation with sustainability at its heart. This £68.25 million project, funded by Glasgow City Council, the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the governments of Scotland and the United Kingdom, has involved a complete overhaul by the architects John McAslan Partners of the building designed by Barry Gasson, John Meunier and Brit Andresen for the collection formed by the Glasgow shipping magnate William Burrell (1861–1958), which opened to the public in 1983.