A “catastrophic” fire has caused serious damage to the architecture faculty at Delft University in the Netherlands. Although no-one was injured in the blaze, much of the 14-storey building has been completely destroyed. Watch the building collapse on YouTube:

“The faculty building caught alight, then spread to the library and the historic chair collection - which includes Rietveld’s Red and Blue chair”, Tony Fretton, a visiting professor at the department, said. He added that first editions of books by Koolhaas and MVRDV are now feared lost.

Update: collection saved (Taken from Archinect, May 14, 2008):

This thursday an exhibition with many models produced and collected over many years by the faculty would open (with models of projects by Rietveld, Le Corbusier, Melnikov, Duiker, Van Eyck, Adolf Loos, Eames and many many others, including the famous collection of many original chairs by Le Corbusier, Rietveld, Gispen. Luckily 80 models and 200 chairs have been saved from the lower parts of the building. Most likely the collection of the Architecture Library (more than 400.000 books and magazines - on of the best of Europe - will be safed too. Although the water and smoke damage must be disastrous.
 

Gerrit Rietveld. (Dutch, 1888-1964). Red Blue Chair. c. 1923. Painted wood, 34 1/8 x 26 x 33″ (86.7 x 66 x 83.8 cm), seat h. 13″ (33 cm). (Collection of Museum of Modern Art, New York)

Read more (Building Design, May 13, 2008)