Glasgow School of Art

I awoke on Saturday morning (Melbourne time) to the sad news that Charles Rennie Mackintosh's masterpiece, The Glasgow School of Art was on fire. "Due to one of the most astonishingly intelligent and professional pieces of strategy", the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service fought to control the fire and preserve as much of the building as possible however the library was completely gutted.

According to the art school's chairperson Muriel Gray the archives are safe and it was a delight to see "most of our beloved building bruised and battered, but most certainly not destroyed".

In relation to the library she added,

"Mackintosh was not famous for working in precious materials. It was his vision that was precious and we are confident that we can recreate what was lost as faithfully as possible."

"Our main concern right now is the welfare of the students and the impending graduation and everyone is working hard together to achieve the best outcome for all."

While many works have been preserved, some students have lost some or all of their work.

The spirit appears to be strong. The building is 90% viable and will hopefully be restored ready to welcome many more generations of art students.

Reference:
BBC News, (2014). Glasgow School of Art fire: Iconic library destroyed. [online] Available at: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-27556659 [Accessed 25 May. 2014].

Mackintosh Church, Queen's Cross

This certainly isn't Art Deco architecture. In fact it was commissioned in 1896 by the Free Church (of Scotland?) but there is no denying that this small church in Queen's Cross, Glasgow is interesting architecture by Charles Rennie Mackintosh. It is the only church designed by Mackintosh and today serves as the headquarters of the CRM Society.

Reference:
www.mackintoshchurch.com

House for an Art Lover, Glasgow

In 1901 Glasgow architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh and his artist wife Margaret MacDonald entered a Germany-based competition to design a 'Grand Residence for an Art Lover'. Their entry was disqualified as incomplete but the couple submitted the missing perspectives and their design was awarded a purchase prize meaning that their portfolio of plans together with the second and third prize winners entries was circulated throughout Europe. That no first prize was awarded has lead many people since that time to surmise that Mackintosh & MacDonald would have one the competition if they had submitted a complete proposal by the required deadline.

In 1987 Glasgow civil engineer Graham Roxburgh had developed an idea to build a house based on the 1901 competition plans in Bellahouston Park, Glasgow. By 1990 the exterior and much of the interior was complete but recession in the Nineties delayed the project until 1994 when it was revived by collaboration between Glasgow City Council and the Glasgow School of Art (Mackintosh's finest building IMHO) creating the House for an Art Lover.

It isn't deco. Art Nouveau or plainly just Charles Rennie Mackintosh & Margaret MacDonald but one thing for sure, it is stunning and well worth a visit.

Reference:
House for an Art Lover website

Scotland Street School, Glasgow

I do like the work of Glasgow architect and designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

This is Scotland Street School designed 1904 and 1906. Mackintosh liked to include aspects of Scottish castles in his designs and in this school he has placed the stairwells in two circular towers, one at each end of the building.

The towers mark the separate entrances for boys and girls with a entrance specifically for infants in between.

Somewhat surprisingly there are blue and green coloured tiles inside contrasting to the red sandstone exterior. These colours have also been used in the patterns of leadlight glass.

I really like the simple pattern high in the curved windows of the towers consisting of two green triangles, standing on their points one on top of the other, combined with two glass panels split into a regular grid. This pattern is repeated across the windows in a horizontal band leaving the bulk of the area as clear glass. I find it very appealing.

Reference: The Life, Times and Works of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, K E Sullivan (Caxton Editions, London, 1997)

former Odeon Cinema, Glasgow

This photo shows the Odeon Cinema in Renfield St, Glasgow around 2001.

The building was designed by Samuel Beverley and Frank T Verity for the Paramount Company and opened as the Glasgow Paramount Theatre on 31st December 1934.

It became an Odeon in 1939 when that company purchased all Paramount theatres in the United Kingdom.

It closed in January 2006 and despite plans to redevelop the site while retaining and restoring the Art Deco portion at the front of the former cinema, it remains vacant.

References:
Odeon Glasgow, Cinema Treasures website
Glasgow Odeon - Renfield Street, by Gordon Barr, ReelScotland website
Paramount Building, Glasgow: Information + Images, GlasgowArchitecture website

Incorporated Dental Hospital, Glasgow

The lettering above the door of this fine Art Deco building in Glasgow reads Incorporated Dental Hospital and it now forms part of Dental School at the University of Glasgow.

It was designed by Edward G Wylie and built in 1931.

References:
Dental School, University of Glasgow website
Dental Hospital, Glasgow by Architectural Historian on Flickr.com

Mackintosh House, Hunterian Art Gallery, Glasgow

This strange sight is the exterior of the Mackintosh House at the Hunterian Art Gallery at the University of Glasgow.

Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh lived in a Glasgow end-terrace house from 1906 - 1914 making substantial altertions to the building incorporating their distinctive style into the interior spaces.

The house was bought by the University of Glasgow who many years later when area was redeveloped, salvaged many elements and recreated many of the interior spaces at the Hunterian Art Gallery (only 100 metres from the site of the original house).

So we now have this unusual sight of CRM's front door suspended many metres above street level.

The Beresford, Glasgow

This is the former Beresford Hotel in Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow when it was known as Baird Hall of Residence for the University of Strathclyde. The original hotel was designed by architect William Bereford Inglis when it was built in 1938 he was also the owner and manager.

In the 1960s it was taken over by the University for student accommodation after it had been used as an office block for some time.

In a way the building had now come full circle. While it is not a hotel it has in recent years been converted into apartments and is known again as The Beresford.

Glasgow Film Theatre

The Glasgow Film Theatre on a cold wet day.

The Willow Tea Rooms, Glasgow

I am straying into very dangerous territory here.

The Willow Tea Rooms in Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow were designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh in 1903 for Kate Cranston. Mackintosh had already worked on Cranston's three other Glasgow tea rooms working on murals, furniture and at Ingram Street redesigning an entire room to create the White Dining Room. The Willow Tea Rooms was the first time he had complete control over the entire building.

By 1917, Kate Cranston had sold her tea rooms and the buildings were used for other purposes until Anne Mulhern recreated the Room de Luxe at the reborn Willow Tearoom in 1983.

The work of Charles Rennie Mackintosh cannot be claimed to be Art Deco but he was a genius and a man before his time.

Rogano, Glasgow

Rogano is Glasgow's old surviving restaurant.

Even on a cold, wet Scottish evening, when I took this photo, the class of its 1935 Art Deco frontage shines through.