Last July, I was invited with a group of American Fulbright students to a reception at Glasgow City Chambers.
I remember little of the speeches, but I will never forget the look on the Fulbrighters' faces as they were led into the building and up its splendidly ornate marble staircase, beneath arches and domes worthy of the Vatican, though possibly a touch more opulent. These youngsters are among the most sophisticated in the American university system, yet jaws dropped at the sight of what is surely one of the most glorious public interiors in Europe.
Who couldn't be impressed by the Venetian magnificence of William Young's wildly triumphal creation? Yet as every savvy Glaswegian knows, this spectacular building is only one of hundreds of show-stopping pieces in a city with more than its fair share of architectural masterpieces. This simple fact is celebrated in a delightful new book, Glorious Glasgow, written by James McCarroll, with over 600 photographs by Duncan I McEwan (Fort, £25).
Putting aside my regret that McEwan cropped his image of the old County Buildings ten feet shy of my own windows, this is one of the most absorbing coffee table books imaginable. Starting at the centre of the city, it spreads to all points of the compass, and in so doing makes one feel fresh pride in the imaginative genius this city has inspired from architects down the ages.
If your interest is literary, then the City Chambers is a good pace to begin, looking out as it does on the first monument erected to Sir Walter Scott, who towers over George Square holding pen and book. The world-famous Mitchell Library is given full honours, of course, as is the melancholy reminder of Charles Rennie Macintosh's well-scuffed, exquisite library in Glasgow School of Art.
One bookish haven I did not know, but intend to seek out, is described by McCarroll as "quite simply, one of the most elegant spaces in Glasgow", namely the Library in the Royal Faculty of Procurators, in Nelson Mandela Place. To an eye raised on the east coast, Charles Wilson's design has more than a little in common with the Faculty of Advocates' Library in Edinburgh's Parliament Square, albeit more robust and reader-friendly.
New arrivals to the city are usually struck by its Victorian swagger, but this book covers everything between the medieval and the contemporary, from the commoners' well in Ladywell Street, to George Wyllie's giant safety pin honouring motherhood in the grounds of Strathclyde University.
Other edifices are equally cheering. Looking at the facade, for instance, of the Hatrack Building in St Vincent's Street, you can't help but marvel at the chutzpah of architects who set themselves the challenge of creating a 10-storey building on a plot less than 30 feet wide. The result is like a generous slice of thickly iced chocolate cake, of the sort once found in Mrs Cranston's Tearooms, just up the street. This and countless other art deco or northern renaissance exteriors rival the feted postcard trophies of Barcelona and other much vaunted tourist attractions, threatening to cast Gaudi and Miralles into the shade.
Even the most jaded will surely come away from these pages with new respect for this remarkably beautiful place.
This book is also full of stories. Put it into the hands of a novelist bereft of ideas, and their agent will have a synopsis by the weekend. Take The Lady Artists' Club at 5 Blythswood Square, whose door is designed by Charles Rennie McIntosh. McCarroll informs us that the house next to it, No 7, was the residence of the infamous Madeleine Smith, who allegedly poisoned her lover. It is not the well-known Smith scandal that interests me, however, but the thought of the women in the artists' club, and the sorts of lives they must have lived. They would have been very different, one suspects, from those of the predominantly male architects immortalised on Glasgow's streets - but that's another story.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article