FEW cities are as closely associated with the work of one architect than Glasgow and Charles Rennie Mackintosh. The breadth of Mackintosh’s work as an artist, designer and architect has bequeathed an astonishing legacy of buildings, interiors and artworks, some revered around the world, others less well known but no less wondrous.
The 150th anniversary of his birth in 1868 provides the perfect excuse to discover and rediscover the work of Mackintosh, so whether you are seeing it for the first time or looking for new places and ways to experience and consider his pioneering ideas, and how they influenced others, here 11 exciting opportunities across the city and beyond.
Kelvingrove Museum
A major new exhibition, Charles Rennie Mackintosh: Making the Glasgow Style, features the cream of Mackintosh works held in the city, including many never before seen in public.
Spanning his life and work, and bringing together all the different media he worked with, from stained glass, ceramics, metalwork and stencilling to furniture, graphics and architecture, this is a unique opportunity to consider not only the objects themselves but the times and creative ideas which inspired them.
Drawn from public and private collections and including key loans from Glasgow School of Art, The Hunterian, and the V&A, the exhibition also features work by a wide selection of Mackintosh’s peers and contemporaries – not least his wife Margaret Macdonald and her sister Frances – all of whom contributed to the Glasgow Style that became so influential in European design circles in the early 20th century.
Runs until 14 August. Tickets priced £7 and £5 (concessions).
One of the biggest and best-loved of all Mackintosh’s buildings, the school – designed between 1903 and 1906 – provides a double whammy in terms of visitor experience. As well as exploring the architecture, you’ll get the chance to learn about the history of Scottish education in the numerous and fantastic hands-on displays, exhibitions and live performances that are dotted around this eminently family-friendly museum.
Records show that Mackintosh had a rather strained relationship with the school board bureaucrats who commissioned the red sandstone building, often because he insisted architecture should contribute to making learning more fun for the pupils, an idea that was frowned upon at the time. These days, spotting the mysterious symbols he managed to sneak into the design is all part of the joy.
Scotland Street School Museum, 225 Scotland Street, Glasgow. Free entry.
Queens Cross Church
The only church designed by Mackintosh remains something of an under-appreciated gem, despite the fact it provides the most fully-realised showcase of his early promise. The unfussy, gothic-inspired building sits inconspicuously at a busy urban intersection on the edge of Maryhill. Those who go inside are in for a treat, as the fully-restored interior highlights not only Mackintosh's love for nature, but his appreciation of the Japanese artistic tradition.
A favourite of Princess Margaret, who made a private visit in the 1970s to play the impressive organ, the church is now the home of the Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society, which offers year-round workshops, seminars, exhibitions, walks and talks on the architect and his circle. It’s also one of Glasgow’s most beautiful, intimate and under-rated music venues, and hosts a wide array of concerts and events. In May and June, artist Luke Jerram’s stunning lunar installation the Museum of the Moon will fill the church, drawing parallels with Mackintosh’s iconic Harvest Moon painting and inspiring a series of special gigs.
Queens Cross Church, 870 Garscube Road, Glasgow. Entry: £4/£2. Free Wednesday afternoons. Tickets for Museum of the Moon cost £3.30.
The Mackintosh House
Arguably nowhere better showcases Mackintosh’s genius as an interior designer than this wonderful recreation of the house he shared in the West End of Glasgow with his wife, the artist and designer Margaret Macdonald.
Featuring a meticulous reassembly of the principal apartments of their now demolished house in nearby Southpark Avenue, the apartments are filled with their original furniture and highlight the strikingly modern decorative vision shared by this remarkable couple.
Look out for the new Mackintosh interpretation centre that opens in the house this summer. Guided tours available.
The Mackintosh House at the Hunterian, University of Glasgow. Entry: £6/£5, £1.50 on 07 June.
The Lighthouse
Mackintosh’s first public commission was originally designed in 1895 for The Herald, but since 1999 it has housed event spaces, a cafe, Glasgow’s Centre for Architecture and Design, and a permanent exhibition and learning centre dedicated to its architect. Its rooftop viewing area also provides some of the most spectacular views in the city. Events to celebrate Mackintosh 150 include film screenings, exhibitions and an installation in the water tower. Elsewhere, cult life drawing class All The Young Nudes will host special sessions devoted to Mackintosh and Macdonald, complete with multimedia scenes and live music.
The Lighthouse, Mitchell Lane, Glasgow. Entry free. Special event prices vary.
Daily Record building
Designed in 1901 and tucked away from the bustle in a city centre lane, Mackintosh’s other newspaper commission, for the Daily Record, now houses hip bar, cafe and music venue Stereo, and is a must-see stop on any Mack-related walking tour. Look upwards and you will see the striking use of colour on the façade, which skilfully combines sculpted sandstone and white glazed bricks to maximise light. Listen carefully and you can almost hear the clack of the typewriters.
Renfield Lane, Glasgow
Glasgow School of Art Tours
The world renowned and much-loved “Mack” may still be under scaffolding as part of the major restoration that followed 2014’s devastating fire, but that doesn’t mean there is nothing to see at Mackintosh’s spiritual home, voted the best British building of the last 175 years.
Daily tours, led by students and graduates, departing year-round from the school's visitor centre at the landmark Reid building across the road, explore the history of the building and its legacy, and provide access to the school’s original Mackintosh furniture.
During summer, city tours, which last 2 hours and 30 minutes, delve deeper into Mackintosh’s architectural influence on Glasgow and its cultural heritage. From October, meanwhile, the Reid hosts a new exhibition exploring how his vision and legacy continues to inspire fashion and design practitioners.
Glasgow School of Art, Renfrew Street, Glasgow. Tours from £7 to £19.50 (concessions available).
Mackintosh at the Willow
Following an ambitious and meticulous £10m restoration, Mackintosh collaborator Kate Cranston’s most iconic tea rooms, on Sauchiehall Street, are scheduled to re-open on June 7, the day of their designer's birth.
Miss Cranston worked closely with Mackintosh and Macdonald on the scheme for the interior, and a new visitor centre will celebrate the achievements of the trio.
The work has been co-ordinated and financed by the Willow Tea Rooms Trust, which was established as a charity in 2014 to secure the site for future generations. It is also hoped the renovation will contribute to the ongoing regeneration of Sauchiehall Street, which has been hit by the recent fire at Victoria's nightclub.
House for an Art Lover
Designed in 1901 with significant input from Macdonald, House for an Art Lover was originally conceived as an entry to a prestigious German architecture competition that demanded complete originality. The resulting design fitted the bill magnificently, but was disqualified on a technicality.
The building finally opened 95 years later on Glasgow’s south side as an exhibition space, venue, cafe and artists’ studios, and continues to inspire originality and creativity today.
Among the events planned to celebrate Mackintosh 150 is May Day, which runs from 20 April to 07 May, a project by Rosie O’Grady that reimagines Macdonald’s iconic panel The May Queen.
Sculpture for an Art Lover, meanwhile, features work by Tom Allan which references Mackintosh and his era.
Bellahouston Park, Dumbreck Road, Glasgow. Entry £6/£4, £1.50 on June 7.
The Hill House
Alongside Glasgow School of Art, this “home for the future” in Helensburgh, built for publisher Walter Blackie in 1902, is believed by many to be Mackintosh’s most mature and fully realised architectural triumph, and features many of his most recognisable designs.
Problems with the exterior harling have plagued the building since construction, however, leading to water damage, and now owners National Trust for Scotland have launched a £1.5m fundraising appeal to build a giant see through “cage" to protect the structure until a long-term solution can be found.
Upper Colquhoun St, Helensburgh. Entry £10.50/£7.50.
V&A
Built on the banks of the Firth of Tay in Dundee, renowned Japanese architect Kengo Kuma has created a dramatic, beautiful and entirely functional base for Scotland’s first dedicated design museum.
With this in mind, it is fitting that Mackintosh, who was influenced throughout his life by Japanese design, will be at the heart of the new £80m V&A, the most eagerly anticipated Scottish building for a generation.
Unseen for 50 years after lying in storage, the Oak Room – the largest of Miss Cranston’s Ingram Street Tea Rooms - has been conserved and installed as the permanent centrepiece of the Scottish Design Galleries.
The first temporary exhibition, Ocean Liners: Speed and Style, is also likely to be a stunner.
The museum opens to the public on 15 September. Free entry to the permanent exhibitions.
Mackintosh Club
Another Helensburgh gem is the Mackintosh Club, designed in 1894 and now a hub for art, architecture and music. Ambitious plans are afoot for a rooftop gallery, terrace and studios, alongside a programme of events to coincide with Mackintosh 150.
Sinclair Street, Helensburgh, G84 8SU. Entry: £3.
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