TWO high powered meetings are to be held to discuss the rebuilding of the Glasgow School of Art's Mackintosh building, which was ravaged by fire.

The first will take place in Venice next month and the second will be held in Glasgow in the spring.

Both are regarded as being fundamental in helping the Art School draw up reconstruction plans.

The meetings will complement a range of academic research into the restoration of the world famous Charles Rennie Mackintosh building.

Professor Christopher Platt, head of the Mackintosh School of Architecture, said the plans for bringing the badly damaged building back into full use and how to approach the restoration of the building's famed library were highly complex questions.

He added: "Any discussion must involve contributions from many different people and organisations from across the world."