Charles Renne MacIntosh, Glasgow

Queen’s Cross Church in Maryhill, Glasgow, is considered to be on of Charles Rennie Mackintosh most mysterious project. This building is the only church by the Glasgow born artist to be built and is now the Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society headquarters.

The church is one of the artist’s purest works and was build between 1897 and 1899, during the same period as the early stages of the Glasgow School of Arts. The building was a project for the Free Church and Mackintosh once again gave it his own iconic twist, marrying different styles and influences together in this unique space.

The design contains gothic influences, such as the magnificent stained glass blue heart window, and pre-Reformation style, such as the replica of the original rood beam, which is unique in Scotland. The church’s tower was inspired by a medieval church in Somerset, and it is even possible to find Japanese influences in the double beams and pendants inside the church.

Queen’s Cross Church also contains exceptional relief carving on wood and stonework with mainly plants and birds designs, whose meanings are still nowadays a mystery to experts. The building functioned as a Parish Church until 1976 when, after facing threat of demolition, the Society started looking after it.

Scotland on TV have a video of the church if you want to see first hand the beuty of the place

This church, with a nautical theme from the book of Mathew is the home of the charles MacIntosh society and has an extensive selection of reasonably priced prints and posters. Well worth the visit just for the art shop.

House for an Art Lover!
Designed by Charles Rennie Macintosh and Margaret Macdonald in 1901, this house had to be thre first of its kind. Visit and meander through the rooms and ponder over how ahead of their times Macintosh and Macdonald were, pack a lunch and (if its dry) enjoy the beautiful gardens and views in which the house is situated (you could enjoy the cafe, but it is quite pricey)

This was the first stop of our day on the trail of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, it is still a working college so you are not allowed to walk around on your own. We took a guided tour which lasted just over an hour and cost about 6GBP (I can't remember the exact amount), and it was worth every penny. I went along with this because it was something Jan wanted to do, I enjoyed the tour as much as she did, and I came away totally in awe of the great man. An architect, an interior designer and an artist, you can see examples of his genius in all these areas on this tour. I found this visit to be informative, educational and very interesting.
For more information try this link

1 more image

A competition was held to design a new building for the Glasgow Art School and the winning design was by Charles Renne MacIntosh in his well known art nouveau style. Its considered to be one of his best buildings and right in the city centre, so very accessible. Although the building, known as the MacIntosh building, is still used by around 4000 students, they hold tours so you can see some of the interior, furniture and see how the building was designed to suit its purpose - giving good light for the students to paint etc. The library is one of the highlights and there is also a furniture gallery that contains items both from the school and from other work carried out by MacIntosh and his wife.

Don't forget to have a look at the outside of the building as well though! :)

Entry was £6.50 although we had a group ticket and it worked out less.

Charles Renne MacIntosh was commissioned by the tearooms owner, Kate Cranston, to design furniture for it and although most of the original furniture is no longer in use there - some of it being on display at the nearby School of Art - it is still very much in his style

CRM certainly left his mark on Glasgow with several buildings designed in his distinctive style. In addition to his architecture he is known for his furniture design and art nouveau paintings. Interestingly the paintings are all signed with the initials 'CRM' . This was also the initials of his wife and noone knows for certain which pieces were produced by either wife or husband. It is possible to get a day ticket for all the buildings, including transport between the buildings and this makes for a very good day out for anyone interested in architecture, history, art or simply 'pretty things' like myself. (all day ticket, including transport is £12, see http://www.crmsociety.com/trailticket_1.aspx)

THe reconstruction of the Makintosh House on the University of Glagow campus is a treasure. To start with, it's free! The house brings together the furnishings from Makintosh's home in Glasgow that he designed and lived in with his family.

House for an Art Lover. This house was built in 1995 following plans by CR Mackintosh made in 1901 for a German competition. Mackintosh did not win but the plans were given a special award. The house consists of an entry hall, a dining room, a music room and an oval room. It was designed with the idea of entertaining guests.

More photos can be found in my 'House for An Art Lover' travelogue (on the right hand side of this page).

Go to see at least one of Charles Rennie Mackintosh's famous buildings. The Art School is a good one, as it's still in use, and so there are still students and paintings/creations everywhere. There are guided tours and there's a Rennie Mackintosh gift shop.
Rennie Mackintosh was such an influential architect and designer - and he really designed everything, every little detail, right down to the numbers on the clock face!