Charles Rennie MacKintosh Pocket Guide

by John McKean, Colin Baxter (Photographer)

This illustrated, up-to-date guide to the work of Scotland's renowned architect/designer gives information on the buildings, furniture, painting, drawings, and textile designs--where they can be seen--and detailed location maps. "Charles Rennie Mackintosh Pocket Guide" takes a critical look at Mackintosh's work, and guides visitors to his accessible work, particularly in Glasgow and the west of Scotland. It looks at the buildings in detail, discussing, evaluating, and illustrating them and the Mackintosh-designed material in them. Public and private buildings are included, as well as the collections of his other work that are housed elsewhere. It also includes a biographical sketch of Charles Rennie Mackintosh during his time in London, Northampton, France, and Glasgow. John McKean is professor of architecture at the University of Brighton. Born in Glasgow, he studied architecture at Mackintosh's Art School there. He then practiced in England teaching and lecturing there and in Sri Lanka, Italy, and Budapest. With others he successfully campaigned to stop the motorway in Glasgow that threatened to demolish Mackintosh's Martyr's School. He has written five books, contributed to several others, and written many articles on Mackintosh. Two of his books have won American Institute of Architects International Book Awards.

Genres: Scotland, Art

80 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1998

About the author

John McKean is an academic and art critic, and was a Professor of Architecture at the University of Brighton.

Reviews

[AJW · Rating 3 out of 5]

A concise introduction to Charles Rennie Mackintosh and his wife and design partner Margaret Macdonald. There’s a brief biography, description of his buildings and an information directory at the back.

Contains colour photos. But there are no plans or 3D drawings. It was written to be carried and read as you wander through the buildings. But some of them cannot be visited, eg. School of Art. As someone who has visited most of the buildings, I thought this pocket guide failed to adequately describe them.

Though to be fair, it is probably an impossible ask. A few paragraphs and static photos cannot capture the wonderful sensory experience of wandering through a building designed by the Mackintoshes. Often you go through a tight cramped space that opens up into a much bigger space. As you move through the rooms and corridors, different elements appear and disappear, such as window seats. Colour and light are masterfully used. And all the materials and surfaces and furnishings are orchestrated beautifully throughout the building, right down to the smallest detail.

To do justice to a Mackintosh building, you need a massive coffee table book, not a small pocket guide.