From the Lighthouse, originally the home of The Glasgow Herald, to Glasgow School of Art via the Willow Tearooms and Scotland Street School, Charles Rennie Mackintosh designed many of Glasgow’s best loved and most famous buildings. When the art school was damaged by fire earlier this year, the huge outpouring of grief gave testament to just how fond Glasgow was of both the architect and his legacy in the city. Mackintosh’s influence went far beyond Glasgow. His architecture was a major source of inspiration for rebuilding the Norwegian town of Alesund after 850 of its original houses were destroyed by fire in 1904.
Art Nouveau leader
Through his involvement with the Art Nouveau movement, especially in terms of his furniture and interior designs, it could be argued that CRM helped shape the way that today’s world looks. It is perhaps curious to think that work on one of his buildings, the House for an Art Lover, did not begin until 1989 – almost 90 years after CRM finished his design and over 60 years after his death. Part of Bellahouston Park, House for an Art Lover started life as a competition entry. In 1900, the German Magazine Zeitschrift Für Innendekoration invited people to design a grand house in a modern style.
Sophisticated surroundings
The imaginary client was envisioned to be a person of taste and culture who ‘enjoyed lavishly entertaining his guests in sophisticated surroundings and in great style’. Mackintosh relished just such a challenge and it is thought that he collaborated with his wife, Margaret MacDonald, on the design. Ironically, Mackintosh’s submission was disqualified as he was late submitting some interior views. Nonetheless, it was a hit with the judges. One reckoned that ‘The exterior character of the building exhibits an absolutely original character unlike anything else known. In it we shall not find a trace of the conventional forms of architecture to which the artist, as far as his present intentions were concerned, was quite indifferent’.
Turning dream into reality
When the decision was made to use CRM’s design to build House for an Art Lover, architects had to interpret his plans. The ones he had written some 90 years previously were not technically complete. Professor Andy MacMillan, then Head of Architecture at Glasgow School of Art, led the team that helped turn the dream into reality. Today, House for an Art Lover is a ‘charitable company whose primary purpose is the stimulation of public interest in art, design and architecture’. Its remit includes the development of visual art exhibitions by some of Scotland’s leading artists and designers in the Cafe Gallery with a related, gallery education programme for children and adults. You can see all the events taking place at the centre from here while the various courses and classes on offer are here.
Light and airy Café
As well as a gorgeous outdoor seating area, the light and airy Art Lovers’ Café offers interesting, inventive dishes made with locally sourced ingredients. These range from light bites like the hot salt beef bagel or the king prawn linguini to more substantial a la carte choices such as the cinnamon and honey marinated breast of duckling served with butternut squash purée, creamed sprouts, gratin dauphinoise and a game gravy.
Local sourcing, modern European cooking
The menus change regularly and, for the most part, feature modern European dishes such as the roast fillet of salmon with wilted spinach, creamed potato and lemon beurre blanc or the trio of chicken: roulade, confit leg and croquette with a ham and butter bean casserole with pommes Anna. The set lunch menu at £11.99 for two courses, or £14.99 for three, is always popular. One suspects that Mackintosh would approve.