Discovering Charles Rennie Mackintosh in Glasgow's Lighthouse
Written: Oct 23 '09 (Updated Oct 23 '09)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Good for the tower, the restaurant, rotating exhibitions and the story of Rennie Mackintosh.
Cons: The original interior has gone, and the staff inattentive.
The Bottom Line: The Glasgow Lighthouse is a key building to vist when following the "Rennie Mackintosh" trail. Saturdays offer free entrance!
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| cr01's Full Review: The Lighthouse, Glasgow, United Kingdom |
Given that the Scottish city of Glasgow lies some miles inland, the concept of a lighthouse in the city centre seems somewhat unusual. However, this particular lighthouse was designed and built by celebrated Victorian-era Architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh, and completed in 1895 to be the headquarters of the local newspaper, the Glasgow Herald.
It was nicknamed "The Lighthouse" for its rather striking red stone tower at one corner of the building, and it also seems an apt name for a building that helped spread information and knowledge through the city.
For the past decade the building has been home to the Scottish Centre for Architecture, Design and the City. If you are into design, they often hold interesting guest architecture exhibitions.
The Lighthouse is near Glasgow Central Train Station, and fortunately entrance on a Saturday is free. I found this just as well, as the young employees at the front desk seemed more interested in each other and giggling about the previous evenings exploits than to give any attention to wrinkly paying guests. While we stood in the doorway for a few moments, we decided it was going to prove too bothersome to attempt to prise their attention from each other for long enough to obtain a printed guide for the building. We soon wandered off to explore the building for ourselves.
Unfortunately, many of the remaining Rennie Mackintosh buildings in Glasgow don't give a complete impression of the architect's work. Charles Rennie Mackintosh designed most of his works as complete packages; with both interior and exterior design catered for. The Glasgow School of Art building is perhaps the most intact, but as a working building it has changed over the decades, some of the furniture is not in keeping with the building and there is little information about the man himself. Kelvingrove Art Gallery is a good place to visit to see reconstructions of the teashop interiors that Mackintosh designed, and to see some of his beautiful furniture and interior design plans, but not the architecture.
The Lighthouse meanwhile is almost the complete opposite of the Glasgow School of Art building; it's a great place to find our about the man, but the building is a near shell with a new extension and few original interior artefacts remaining.
No matter, we enjoyed the look round.
Charles Rennie Mackintosh Exhibition
The lighthouse is on six levels, and we lingered the longest at the Mackintosh display, where a couple of long story boards told the story of his life, accompanied by various pictures of him, his wife and his work.
Unfortunately, life was not particularly kind to Mackintosh and he spent barely a dozen years designing buildings and earning reasonable money. By the time he hit his mid 40's, his architecture partnership had been dissolved, he was drinking heavily, and just producing the occasional fabric or painting to help supplement his dwindling savings.
I wonder how he would consider the multi million pound Rennie Mackintosh industry today, with its stylised jewellery, china mugs and scarves all emblazoned with Rennie Mackintosh inspired designs. You can buy these and other design inspired objects at the shop at the Lighthouse. I just wish you good luck with getting the attention of the staff to pay for your goods.
Of course, we just had to climb the famous tower just because it was there. While the original steps are gone, the modern replacement, a wooden and steel spiral, was pleasing to the eye. At the top, you get a good view over the Victorian splendour of Glasgow, although I have to say it's not the prettiest town to gaze over.
From the tower, we climbed back down to the stylish little café and bar, the doocot, located on the fifth floor for a drink and sticky bun, before continuing our rather haphazard exploration of the building. Those with weak legs will be pleased to know there is a lift in the building. We however now had calories to burn off.
I particularly liked the temporary exhibition on one of the remaining floors, a retrospective of the work of John Lautner, a Californian architect. Lautner had an interesting eye for design with wide open living space, and a knack for creating usable space on steep hillsides (he built his homes on platforms).
As a student I shared a house with a couple of training architects, and their enthusiasm for designing and enhancing space for living has rubbed off a little. We spent a happy 45 minutes looking at the original plans, scale model designs and photos of Lautner's achievements; although I guess it wouldn't be for everyone.
The other exhibition was less interesting than it sounded; some pictures of how shipbuilding on the Clyde had affected the lives of local people. Of course, with temporary exhibitions it is pot luck as to whether you find anything interesting when you visit.
Summing up
I can't describe the Glasgow Lighthouse as a must see building, and its attractions are purely specialised. However, if you want to find out about the life of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, then the Lighthouse is a good place to start, and I found out far more about him at the Lighthouse, than at either of the other two Mackintosh buildings we visited.
Likewise, you will enjoy the exhibitions at the Lighthouse if you enjoy architecture and design. Obviously, Saturday is a good day to visit because the building is free to enter. I certainly didn't find the building to be particularly busy, so it would seem to be the best day to visit.
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cr01 asserts his right to be associated as the author of this review -2009-
Recommended:
Yes
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cr01
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Member: Chris
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