Glasgow

:For other uses, see Glasgow (disambiguation)

Architecture

Unlike Edinburgh, very little of medieval Glasgow remains, the two main landmarks from this period being the 14th century Provand's Lordship and Glasgow Cathedral. The vast majority of the city as seen today dates from the 19th century. As a result, Glasgow has an impressive heritage of Victorian architecture, the Glasgow City Chambers, the main building of the University of Glasgow, designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott, and the Glasgow School of Art, designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, being outstanding examples. Another architect who had a great and enduring impact on the city's appearance was Alexander Thomson, who produced a distinctive architecture based on fundamentalist classicism that gave him the nickname "Greek". He was described as a "quiet, stay-at-home Victorian behind whose buttoned-up facade there seethed a kind of stylistic corsair who plundered the past for the greater glory of the present".

Related Topics:
Edinburgh - Medieval - Provand's Lordship - Glasgow Cathedral - 19th century - Victorian architecture - Glasgow City Chambers - George Gilbert Scott - Glasgow School of Art - Charles Rennie Mackintosh - Alexander Thomson

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The buildings reflect the wealth and self confidence of the residents of the "Second City of the Empire". Glasgow generated immense wealth from trade and the industries that developed from the Industrial Revolution. The shipyards, marine engineering, steel making, and heavy industry all contributed to the growth of the city. At one time the expression "Clyde-built" was synonymous with quality and engineering excellence. There are two buildings in Glasgow that resemble the Doge's Palace in Venice: Templeton's carpet factory at Glasgow Green and the Stock Exchange. The allusions to Venice, another great sea-faring trading city, seem appropriate.

Related Topics:
Industrial Revolution - Shipyard - Marine engineering - Steel - Heavy industry - Doge's Palace - Glasgow Green

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Many of the city's beautiful buildings were built with red or gold sandstone, but during the industrial era those colours disappeared under a pervasive black layer of soot and pollutants from the furnaces.

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Tenements were built to house the workers who had migrated from Ireland, the Scottish Highlands, the islands and the country areas in order to feed the local need for labour; these tenements were often overcrowded and insanitary, and many developed into the infamous Glasgow slums, the Gorbals area being one of the most notorious.

Related Topics:
Ireland - Scottish Highlands - Slum - Gorbals

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In recent years many of these buildings have been cleaned and restored to their original appearance. Others were demolished to make way for large, barrack-like housing estates, and high-rise flats. The latter were built in large numbers during the 1960s and early 1970s; and indeed, Glasgow has a higher concentration of high-rise buildings than any other city in the UK. At 35 storeys, the Red Road flats in the north of the city were for many years the highest residential buildings in Europe. These housing estates, known as "schemes", are widely regarded as unsuccessful: many, such as Castlemilk, were heartless dormitories well away from the centre of the city with no amenities ("deserts wi' windies", as Billy Connolly put it), and their establishment led to the split up of long established community relationships. Many of the high-rise developments were poorly designed and cheaply built and became magnets for crime. Over time many have become as bad as the slum areas that they replaced. On 7 March 2003 the Glasgow Housing Association took ownership of the housing stock from the city council, and has begun a programme of demolishing the worst of the high-rises.

Related Topics:
1960s - 1970s - UK - Castlemilk - Billy Connolly - 7 March - 2003

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Modern buildings in Glasgow include the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. Along the banks of the Clyde are the Glasgow Science Centre and the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre, whose Clyde Auditorium was designed by Sir Norman Foster, and is affectionately known as the "Armadillo". Zaha Hadid has won a competition to design the new Transport Museum, which will move to the waterfront. Shopping centres include the Buchanan Galleries, the glass pyramid of the St Enoch Centre, and the upmarket Princes Square.

Related Topics:
Glasgow Royal Concert Hall - Glasgow Science Centre - Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre - Norman Foster - Armadillo - Zaha Hadid - Buchanan Galleries - Glass - St Enoch Centre

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Given the history of high rises in Glasgow, the council's policy of allowing new tall buildings has attracted some controversy. The 39-storey Elphinstone Place mixed-use skyscraper in Charing Cross, will be the tallest building in Scotland, and is scheduled to begin construction in late 2005 http://glasgowarchitecture.co.uk/elphinstone_place.htm. Much development is taking place along the banks of the Clyde. Glasgow Harbour, which neighbours Partick is one of the largest residential developments. The second phase was unfavourably compared to the Red Road flats http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/hi/news/5036748.html, but was granted planning permission.

Related Topics:
2005 - Partick

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