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Scotland + Venice architects document Glaswegian ‘utopias’

October 9 2014

Scotland + Venice architects document Glaswegian ‘utopias’
A series of modernist visions and buildings find themselves the subject of debate at Scotland + Venice as the architectural style, as applied in Scotland between 1950 and 1970, comes under the spotlight.

Four architect-led teams, directed by Reiach & Hall, are participating in a month-long residency in the Italian city with the second group assessing how Glasgow’s grid iron city centre has adapted to the 20th century.

The scope of this work encompasses the Anderston Centre, College of Building and Printing and the Glasgow Dental Hospital as they were built together with the mercifully never implemented 1945 Bruce Plan and later Highways Plan of 1965.

In a specially commissioned paper the team outline the influences which inspired such thinking and carry the last interview with the late Professor Andy MacMillan.

Neil Gillespie, design director at Reiach and Hall, said: “In truth Glasgow is Scotland’s only city that approaches a metropolis. It is marked by strong Victorian development of a Georgian mercantile grid. The group have explored in some depth how the architects and developers of the 1960s took the Glasgow grid to literally new heights. It is a fascinating and revealing piece of research.’’

3 Comments

Chris
#1 Posted by Chris on 9 Oct 2014 at 22:05 PM
"the architects and developers of the 1960s took the Glasgow grid to literally new heights." New lows would be more appropriate.
Art Vandelay
#2 Posted by Art Vandelay on 10 Oct 2014 at 13:21 PM
Someone delete this article before Chantelle sees it, it could get messy.
Big Chantelle
#3 Posted by Big Chantelle on 11 Oct 2014 at 19:40 PM
@Art Vandelay

Thanx for your consideration. And yes, this here folks is what the modernist concrete lovin' brigade (there's a few of them on this site) think constitutes great architecture.

Case closed.

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