Whilst C.R Mackintosh lived to the respectable age of 60, his time as an architect in building and construction design spanned far less of his life, but certainly left his mark. He’s inspired countless others, including our Shropshire architects, so with that in mind it’s time to pay tribute to a great man, and note the legacy he’s left on sensory architecture.
Charles Rennie Mackintosh was born on June 7th, 1868, in Glasgow. Whilst his stint in an architect firm was relatively short, he was also a watercolourist and artist. Mackintosh’s approach to the style of his architecture and design contained many similarities to European Symbolism. His work would go on to be, and still is, hugely influential on European building and construction design movements such as Art Nouveau and Secessionism.
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Most of Mackintosh’s life was spent in Glasgow, a city which had proven itself to be one of the greatest production centres of heavy engineering and shipbuilding across the globe during the Industrial Revolution. This meant that, alongside the demand for mass-produced items to be shipped worldwide, there was an influx of items coming into the city. Due to political and historical reasoning, Japanese and other Asian styles of design became more accessible and rose in popularity, as were modernist ideas that also influenced Mackintosh’s work at his architect firm.
This style was admired by Mackintosh because of the simplicity of its form and the use of natural materials. These preferred having texture and light to be prominent, rather than pattern or ornament. In the Japanese culture it was often used to emphasise the space around it, which led to a sense of calmness and an organic feel to interiors. In other words, a very early form of sensory architecture. This is something Mackintosh admired and is an aspect of the design process that our Shropshire architects consider too during commercial work projects.
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The main concept of the Modernist movement (which ran concurrently alongside Mackintosh’s focus on the Japanese style of design) was to develop innovative ideas that focused on the present and the future, not history and tradition. Whilst some claim Mackintosh was a pioneer, his projects aren’t quite as utilitarianism as many of those from the time, so this is somewhat of a misleading claim. What Mackintosh was focused on was building things for the masses, and not just individual people with individual taste, something our Shropshire architects firm strives to achieve with all of our own projects.
While working in architecture, Charles Rennie Mackintosh developed his own style that blended together strong right angles and floral-inspired decorative motifs, alongside references to traditional Scottish building and construction design. The initial project that boosted his international reputation was the Glasgow School of Art (1897–1909). During this period, he also completed the Queen’s Cross Church project in Maryhill, Glasgow.
Mackintosh’s designs typically included specific instructions for the detailing, decoration, and furnishing of his buildings, to ensure the sensory architecture felt right. These were often done by his wife Margaret Macdonald. Their work was shown at the Vienna Secession Exhibition in 1900 and whilst Mackintosh’s architectural career didn’t span his lifetime (his major commissions were completed between 1895 and 1906) he left a mark on European design and was particularly popular in Austria and Germany. Not only this, but his work was exhibited in Budapest, Munich, Dresden, Venice, and Moscow.
Whilst the latter part of Mackintosh’s life wasn’t taken up by building and construction design, Mackintosh would go on to take up watercolour painting. He showed interest in the relationship between the man-made and the naturally occurring landscapes around him, building quite the portfolio in the process. To commemorate his time spent here, it’s possible to visit the local Charles Rennie Mackintosh Trail that details his time in Port Vendres and shows the paintings and their locations.
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Despite his relatively short-lived stint as a one-man architect firm, Mackintosh would go on to have numerous accolades and exhibitions attributed to him. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City held a major retrospective exhibition from 21 November 1996 to 16 February 1997, which included lectures and documentary films about his works. Mackintosh was commemorated on a series of banknotes issued by the Clydesdale Bank in 2009, and in June 2018, a mural depicting Mackintosh (done in his distinctive style) was created in Glasgow to honour the 150th anniversary of his birth.
Mackintosh is a prime example of how you don’t have to spend decades dedicated to a craft to be a master. Of course, all our Shropshire architects have spent many years training and having hands-on experience with their work. But innovation and inspiration take less time to achieve, wouldn’t you agree?
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