Charles Rennie Mackintosh

Discover Mackintosh’s distinctive designs in Glasgow

The father of the Glasgow Style, Charles Rennie Mackintosh was born in Glasgow in 1868, a time when the Glasgow School of Art was emerging as one of the leading art academies in Europe. Alongside his architectural apprenticeship, Mackintosh took various evening classes in drawing at the school which allowed him access to the latest journals on architecture and design. Today he is well-known for his distinctive Mackintosh art and Mackintosh furniture as well as the fact that he was a leader in art noveau.

In 1898, a year after he joined the large, established city architecture firm, Honeyman and Keppie, Mackintosh won the prestigious Alexander Thomson Travelling Scholarship, and embarked upon an architectural tour of Italy. Though hugely influential, Mackintosh’s architectural career was short-lived with all his major commissions taking place between 1896 and 1906.

His masterpiece and major commission was the new Glasgow School of Art building which he was awarded in 1896 and completed in 1909. An eclectic mix of styles and influences, the building was a nod to the earlier baronial tradition but which also incorporated the simplicity of Japanese influence and modernist themes.

But Mackintosh’s genius lay not only in architectural design but also in interiors, sculpture and textiles and he was a great believer in ‘total design’. Not only did he create buildings but complemented these with interior and furniture designs, and graphic arts. Mackintosh was notably influenced by the themes of modernism, which championed innovative ideas and new technology, and the Asian style. His own unique style is characterised by a contrast of strong right angles and floral-inspired decorative motifs.

Though Mackintosh gained acclaim in Europe, it was only after his death that his genius was fully recognised in Scotland. His House for an Art Lover was built from his own designs in 1996 while The Mackintosh House at the University of Glasgow’s Hunterian Art Gallery is a perfect reconstruction of the Victorian terraced house at 78 Southpark Avenue (originally 6 Florentine Terrace) where Mackintosh and his wife lived between 1906 and  1914.

The best place to start your journey with Charles Rennie Mackintosh is at The Lighthouse, Glasgow’s Centre for Architecture and Design, which was once the Glasgow Herald offices designed by Mackintosh himself. After that you can follow the trail of his most impressive works around Glasgow and beyond.