I made a trip to a conference in Glasgow this week, but
being so far away it took out 3 days. Not only was it far away in miles, but
also in culture – I’ve got used to the comparative isolation of the Highlands
and the pace of life and being in a bustling city again felt very strange. En route to the station for my morning train home I made a small detour to the Glasgow School of Art
and the fabulous Charles Rennie Mackintosh building. Last time I was here with
Henry we had a tour of the building and were shown the development site opposite
which was to become a new campus. The £30 million Reid Building, designed by
Steven Holl Architects, is now complete and stands in stark contrast to the old
building. I liked it, but not so sure about the “now sing” sculpture, a view
perhaps shared by the students who had hung an extra “o” on the original
building. I felt it was now time for the Mackintosh building to sing again – in
a need of a good clean it looked very grubby alongside the new architecture
opposite. Next stop, breakfast. I had sampled the Travelodge cooked breakfast
the day before ( which wasn’t brilliant) so was heading for a McMuffin when I
spotted The Willow Tea Rooms. I waited 5 minutes for it to open and had the
place to myself – so, as I ate a most delicious scrambled egg on toast, it was
as if I had breakfast with the man himself (and almost missed my train!).
A documentary about the Reid Building - Facing Up To
Mackintosh - is on BBC2 at 9pm Tuesday 29 April (on opportunity to see what it looks like inside).
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| Room De Luxe, The Willow Tea Room, 217 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow |
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| The Reid Building, Glasgow School of Art, Renfrew Street |
