It’s been a mixed year for Charles Rennie Mackintosh with the 150th anniversary of his birth. Astonishingly, yes, he was born in the 19th century and died 90 years ago, yet his work still feels so modern and relevant for the 21st century. His masterpiece Hill House is shrouded in scaffolding while the National […]
The Fleming Collection gallery in Berkeley Street was vacated by the Fleming-Wyfold Art Foundation as rents doubled, to enable the Foundation to focus on its policy of promoting Scottish art internationally, an example of which is the selection of works from recent graduates from Scottish art schools on show in the derelict industrial environment of the Studio at […]
Is Europe House in Westminster the last building to display both UK and EU flags, after Teresa May sent her letter last month seeking a new relationship with the EU? Scotland and Europe have been united through culture as selected third year students from the Glasgow School of Art display their work on the theme of […]
Following an international competition to select an architect for the new Reid Building, the Glasgow School of Art selected American architect Steven Holl. Controversially, at the time, the project involved demolition of Keppie’s landmark Newbery Tower with calls for it to be listed, but Glasgow is the midst of a renaissance where post-war buildings are […]
The 1960’s and 1970’s in Glasgow was an era of incredible optimism and change. Whole swathes of old 19th century tenements were being demolished and replaced with new concrete blocks of flats to give families modern accommodation with kitchens, indoor bathrooms and central heating. Speed and fast forms of construction were key to solving some […]
The devastating fire that destroyed much of the west wing of Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s masterpiece, the Glasgow School of Art, has been well-reported. Well done to the fire services and the staff of the School who had the difficult task of dealing with the fire and trying to minimise the impact on this historic building […]
Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s School of Art, completed in 1909, is one of the greatest buildings in Scotland if not in Europe. In a year where the Scots are going to vote on a proposal for independence, it is slightly sad that it is an American architect who was commissioned to carry out the extension to […]
"The many great gardens of the world, of literature and poetry, of painting and music, of religion and architecture, all make the point as clear as possible: The soul cannot thrive in the absence of a garden. If you don't want paradise, you are not human; and if you are not human, you don't have a soul."
(Thomas Moore)
To be an architect means having a wide range of interests - architecture, art and creativity in all its variety of forms, sustainability, science and innovation. The greatest interest is often where these different worlds overlap and collide - that is when something imaginative often occurs that pushes us all forward to another place
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