Fire breaks out at Oslo 's Astrup Fearnley
Museum
The blaze on the new building's top floor was quickly put
out Monday afternoon and no art or staff was in danger
By Clemens Bomsdorf. Web only
Published online: 14 May 2012
Only months before its scheduled opening, a fire broke out
at the Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art’s new building in Oslo , designed by Renzo Piano.
Monday afternoon, a fire went up on the top floor, but
firefighters had it under control by around 4pm. The museum reported via
Twitter that no art or museum personnel had yet been moved into the building.
The new museum is still under construction and is due to
house the privately-owned collection of modern and contemporary art, including
works by Andy Warhol, Damien Hirst, Richard Prince, Cindy Sherman, Matthew
Barney, Olafur Eliasson and Jeff Koons. The opening was scheduled for September
this year.
It remains unclear how extensive the damage is and what
caused it.
UPDATE, 15 MAY: A museum spokesman says that the fire was
restricted to an office floor, which is not part of the museum, although it is
above an exhibition area. “Due to the strong winds we were afraid that the
museum also might catch fire, but that was avoided. We were also fortunate that
the material used for fighting the fire did not affect the museum area as we
had feared,” he says, adding that the museum is due to open as planned at the
end of September.
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