Mackintosh and the Glasgow School of Art

At the end of the 19th Century, William Morris and John Ruskin began the Arts and Crafts movement by disparaging the results of industrialization and urging a return to the craftsmanship of yore.

In this vein, in 1897, a 28 year old part-time student at the Glasgow School of Art won a competition to design the esteemed school's new building. While it is amazing that one so young and inexperienced could successfully complete such a huge commission, after visiting, I now think that only a young student would have the energy, excitement and hubris to design a building like this, in which every single piece is a hand-crafted masterpiece.

Charles Rennie Mackintosh was working at an architecture firm during the day while studying for his degree at night. The daytime job helped, since his competition entry was seen as very professional. The board of the school allotted 14,000 pounds for the building, which is about a quarter of what would be needed to build a building that size, much less one requiring tons of skilled labor to craft intricate details. So of course construction started around 1898, they got about a floor and a half in, and they ran out of money. The construction went on hold.


In 1907, they raised more money and construction began again, but now the board wanted an additional floor of classrooms, and as always, they wanted Mackintosh to cut costs. Mackintosh simultaneously solved issues that arose with the first phase of construction as he created the additional story (using stairwells to block windows that had been deemed too bright, etc.), but also kept himself happy (designing beds for his cats into the meeting room which he was using as an office), and he maintained the high level of specificity and craft in the design.


The building opened in 1909, and immediately established an international reputation for Mackintosh. By 1913 however, the economy was down, most architecture firms were failing, and Mackintosh decided to use his design skills for a more lucrative field. He turned to watercolors and textile design, moved to London, and moved on.