The History of House for an Art Lover
THE COMPETITION
In 1901, Glasgow’s
most famous architect, Charles Rennie Mackintosh entered a competition
to design a ‘House for an Art Lover’. The competition was set by a
German design magazine which sought entries to design ‘a grand house in a
thoroughly modern style’, and challenged architects to develop ideas
which were fresh and innovative. Mackintosh worked on his submission
together with his new wife, Margaret Macdonald and her sister Frances,
both decorative artists. Unfortunately he submitted his designs just too
late and was disqualified before the competition
even began, It’s widely accepted that if he had actually entered the
competition he would have won. The designs were awarded a special prize
for “their pronounced personal quality, their novel and austere form and
the uniform configuration of interior and exterior.” For the first
time, Mackintosh and Macdonald were allowed complete freedom of artistic
expression, their designs not conforming to client specification and
demand
The sheer determination and conviction of consulting
engineer, Graham Roxburgh, led to building the House in the late
eighties, over one hundred years after the designs were first created,
the House now stands completed in Bellahouston Park.
His dream to build the House for an Art Lover became a reality in 1989
when building work began. However, recession in the early Nineties
forced the project to be temporarily halted. Building work resumed in
1994, revived by collaboration between Glasgow City Council and the
Glasgow School of Art.
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