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Little remains of medieval Glasgow, as the long-time industrial capital of Scotland has shed all but a small handful of structures from its pre-industrial past. The city's numerous Victorian- and Edwardian-era edifices, punctuated as they are by an impressive collection of early 20th-century examples of the Glasgow School, work together to create a local architectural character and style unique to Great Britain, and indeed the world. The vision of a small group of artists, architects, and designers known as The Four, which included renowned Glaswegian architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh, became more widely known as the Glasgow School. Their work came to redefine the look and feel of the largely working class city centre, and Mackintosh's Glasgow School of Art revolutionized the direction of Scottish art and architecture for the next hundred years. This edition of Cityscape will look at Glasgow and the Glasgow School of Art, where several iconic architectural styles of the early twentieth century came together, including most famously the English Arts and Crafts and Art Nouveau.
In the 1870s, a cluster of innovative artists and thinkers started to take root in Glasgow and solidified by the 1890s in what became known as the Glasgow School, which was responsible in turn for the Glasgow Style and centred around the efforts of The Four. The Four were comprised of Charles Rennie Mackintosh and his wife Margaret MacDonald, along with Margaret's sister Frances MacDonald, and Herbert MacNair. Known colloquially among their contemporaries and critics as the Spook School, or Ghoul School, due to their work's otherworldly appearance, it would not be long until the world would come to celebrate The Four's contribution to the realm of modern art, architecture, and design.
The structure pictured above is the second to bear the name Glasgow School of Art, though it was founded in 1845 as the Glasgow Government School of Design before changing its name in 1853. Designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, who would go on to create a series of splendid, Glasgow Style, Art Nouveau/Arts and Crafts/Art Deco-inspired masterpieces all across the city, the Glasgow School of Art remains his most famous structure, a premier destination for extraordinarily gifted Fine Arts students and interested visitors alike for more than a century.
With a long list of internationally acclaimed artists, architects, and designers having come out of the school, the Glasgow School of Art has been a cultural draw within the otherwise industrial broader urban context of central Glasgow. Seen below, much of Mackintosh's signature design cues and attention to detail can be made out. The delicate sandstone masonry and iron work in particular showcase several of the architect's most recognizable motifs, many of which can be found among other examples of his work.
Moving on from the Glasgow School of Art, there remain a handful of surviving Mackintosh creations within central Glasgow, including most notably the 1903-built Willow Tearooms located at 217 Sauchiehall Street. Designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh with his wife Margaret MacDonald, the Willow Tearooms was once one of four beautifully appointed tearooms commissioned by local entrepreneur and businesswoman Catherine Cranston.
Central to a Prohibition-Era uptick in the popularity of fashionable alcohol-free establishments, the Willow Tearooms were designed to be elegant modern spaces. The four-storey tearoom is divided into a series of distinct spaces, with separate ladies' and mens' tearooms, along with the prized Room de Luxe on the main floor, which was reserved for only the most well-heeled Glasgwegian ladies and their guests. The designer duo put their combined creative energies into every last detail of the Willow Tearooms, right down to the furniture, tablecloths, and cutlery.
Today a major tourist draw, with reservations hard to come by and long queues for tables, the Willow Tearooms are among the most visited — and photographed — destinations in Glasgow. The establishment's unique history and style make it a must-see for all lovers of art, architecture, and design.
After enjoying some delicious tea and crumpets, one may opt to take a stroll over to the Scotland Street School Museum, another Mackintosh creation and one of Glasgow's most visited architectural attractions. Originally built in 1906 by Mackintosh as a school, the impressive Scottish Baronial-style sandstone structure combines many distinctive architectural cues and styles, including Art Nouveau, Arts and Crafts, and what could be considered early Art Deco. This mixture is not only a calling card of Mackintosh, but of the entire Glasgow School and Style that had by then been perfected by The Four.
Sharing much stylistically in common with the Glasgow School of Art, the Scotland Street School features a prominent placement of oversized, sash, casement, and factory-style grid windows, showing a strong inclination for natural light, along with the same high attention to detail and materiality that is exhibited in all of Mackintosh's contemporary architectural creations. The architect's signature blended sense of style can be seen in detail below, the fine masonry work exhibiting a mix of Art Nouveau and early Art Deco influences.
Located adjacent to the Shields Road subway station, part of Glasgow's historic Glasgow Underground which dates to 1896, the historic context of the Scotland Street School can be appreciated within its urban context. It now operates as a museum, with displays and exhibits highlighting the history of public education in Scotland from the turn of the last century to today, with an emphasis on art and design.
Last but not least, a trip out to suburban Bellahouston Park in Glasgow will reveal the impressive environs of the Mackintosh- and MacDonald-designed House for an Art Lover, which was built between 1989 and 1996 using original plans dating from 1901. Postdating the designer duo's heyday by nearly a century, the faithfully constructed House for an Art Lover is today a premier art venue and gallery space, used by the local art community to host special showings and events related to the arts.
Envisioned as an homage to Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Margaret MacDonald, the interior along with various other details were designed to pay tribute to the full range of the duo's illustrious careers, with furnishings, windows, and other features showcasing a range of design cues and motifs taken from among their many designs, illustrations, and surviving architectural works.
Returning once more to the Glasgow School of Art where our journey began, a view of the city centre reveals a cityscape that has changed and evolved with the times for more than a thousand years. Central Glasgow's largely Victorian urban character is punctuated by numerous examples of modern architecture laying a continuous line of development and urban renewal from the city's industrial past to the present.
Today recognized as a premier architectural destination within Great Britain and across the world, Glasgow has in recent years become a hotbed for creative architectural innovation. With recent additions to the local skyline from such world-renowned firms as Zaha Hadid Architects and Sir Norman Foster, among others, Glasgow has today firmly cemented itself as a bold modern city with a distinct legacy of art, architecture, and design, whose roots go back to the city's architectural heyday of Charles Rennie Mackintosh and the Glasgow School Four.
Cityscape will return soon with a new installment, and in the meantime, SkyriseCities welcomes new suggestions for additional cities and styles to cover in the weeks to come. Got an idea for the next issue? Let us know!
