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Oh no--Berlin Philharmonic Hall on fire
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05-20-2008, 08:16 PM
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7410948.stm
It is really terrible news for classical music lovers--that hall is an acoustic marvel Only good news is that they got most of the instruments out of the building.
05-21-2008, 02:30 AM
What a shame. I hope the fine accoustics aren't gone for good. Especially impressive in a 1960s building: at least in comparison to the awful accoustic mess of Avery Fisher Hall.
05-21-2008, 03:30 PM
A report back from our Berlin office:
Yeah, the fire was stopped at 10 pm. Could have been worse. The fire didn't make it to through the massive concrete ceiling. Fortunately there were only a few people in the building, but if the fire had started an hour later, there would have been a rehearsal with 720 musicians and 400 kids in the audience! And it looks like the main concert hall and the archives are still ok. It's not only an ensemble of concert halls it's also a every important archive of sheet music and instruments. Some of the musicians said later: "First I saved my instrument, then my colleague." Hundreds of instruments are stored there starting at 40,000 € to 4 mio €, some are just priceless.
05-21-2008, 06:30 PM
It brings to light two basic issues. No fire sprinkler protection where needed and improper supervision of hot work (welding, brazing, torch use, etc). Hot work is one of the three leading causes of fires in commercial properties, the others are electrical and smoking (which is dropping rapidly due to smoking restrictions).
As a risk management consultant, I run into the mindset that a building can't be sprinklered as it is historic or it would ruin the aesthetics. I often get a blank look when I ask, what happens to the historic structure if there is a fire. A historic building that is rebuilt is no longer historic, but a replica. Not to mention that the contents are often irreplaceable. It's a shame that this has happened, but hopefully they will learn from it. |
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