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The Mack: Charles Rennie Mackintosh and the Glasgow School of Art
The most up-to-date account of the Scottish architect and designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s masterwork
The Mackintosh Building at The Glasgow School of Art is a monument of international significance in the history of architecture and design. Designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868–1928), its soaring studios and atmospheric spaces would serve to educate and inspire generations of architects, artists, and designers, as well as attract visitors from around the globe.
This book presents the updated story of “The Mack,” incorporating for the first time the history of the building during the post-Mackintosh era up to the present day, including the May 2014 fire, reconstruction efforts, and the devastating fire of 2018 that destroyed most of the building. Illustrated with historical and archival images, reconstruction photographs, and visualisations using the latest 3D scanning technologies, it presents a comprehensive history of the context and creation of this building. The book updates knowledge of the building gleaned from the reconstruction process, including corrections of well-rehearsed assumptions. It also addresses controversies surrounding the second fire, examining issues around fire management that have received much public scrutiny. Including new and unpublished images, The Mack explores the significance of Mackintosh’s masterwork, its international design importance, and its profound impact on its community of users.
The Mackintosh Building at The Glasgow School of Art is a monument of international significance in the history of architecture and design. Designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868–1928), its soaring studios and atmospheric spaces would serve to educate and inspire generations of architects, artists, and designers, as well as attract visitors from around the globe.
This book presents the updated story of “The Mack,” incorporating for the first time the history of the building during the post-Mackintosh era up to the present day, including the May 2014 fire, reconstruction efforts, and the devastating fire of 2018 that destroyed most of the building. Illustrated with historical and archival images, reconstruction photographs, and visualisations using the latest 3D scanning technologies, it presents a comprehensive history of the context and creation of this building. The book updates knowledge of the building gleaned from the reconstruction process, including corrections of well-rehearsed assumptions. It also addresses controversies surrounding the second fire, examining issues around fire management that have received much public scrutiny. Including new and unpublished images, The Mack explores the significance of Mackintosh’s masterwork, its international design importance, and its profound impact on its community of users.
- GenresArchitecture
208 pages, Hardcover
Published May 28, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 9, 2024
My wife and I spent just one day in Glasgow in November 2016 and made a point to see the GSA. We paid our admission to "tour" the Mack, which at that point entailed looking at the building's north facade from the adjacent Reid building while a tour guide told us about the building's history and construction and showed us a variety of photos and artifacts salvaged from the building after its 2014 fire. We also heard about the progress of the restoration project that was then in full swing. From what I saw of the building, it really lived up to its hype.
In the intervening years, I (of course) heard the news that a second fire in 2018 had totally ravaged the building—virtually obliterating most of it—but I did not follow all the details, and truthfully forgot most of what I'd read. So when I picked up this book, I had only a hazy memory of what I was getting into. Needless to say, the more you learn about the Mack's history in recent years, the more heartbreaking it really becomes.
Calvert handily covers a lot of ground. The book tells the story of the Mack's construction, gives a little background on Mackintosh as a designer, briefly tells the history of how the Mack functioned throughout the twentieth century, explores the 2014 fire and the subsequent restoration efforts, and concludes by describing the 2018 fire and the stall-out of most further plans for rebuilding. Calvert also eloquently and appropriately inserts her own personal insights and feelings throughout the narrative.
For someone like myself, whose working familiarity with the building itself is quite low, I would have appreciated even more detail about the building as it existed before the fires (more detailed plans and drawings, photos of more interiors, etc.). In my perfect world, this book would be accompanied by another heavy volume that consisted only of additional photos.
As someone who went to art school and loved it, and also as someone who loves old buildings in a way that feels inexplicably powerful, this beautiful book really moved me.
In the intervening years, I (of course) heard the news that a second fire in 2018 had totally ravaged the building—virtually obliterating most of it—but I did not follow all the details, and truthfully forgot most of what I'd read. So when I picked up this book, I had only a hazy memory of what I was getting into. Needless to say, the more you learn about the Mack's history in recent years, the more heartbreaking it really becomes.
Calvert handily covers a lot of ground. The book tells the story of the Mack's construction, gives a little background on Mackintosh as a designer, briefly tells the history of how the Mack functioned throughout the twentieth century, explores the 2014 fire and the subsequent restoration efforts, and concludes by describing the 2018 fire and the stall-out of most further plans for rebuilding. Calvert also eloquently and appropriately inserts her own personal insights and feelings throughout the narrative.
For someone like myself, whose working familiarity with the building itself is quite low, I would have appreciated even more detail about the building as it existed before the fires (more detailed plans and drawings, photos of more interiors, etc.). In my perfect world, this book would be accompanied by another heavy volume that consisted only of additional photos.
As someone who went to art school and loved it, and also as someone who loves old buildings in a way that feels inexplicably powerful, this beautiful book really moved me.
August 29, 2024
I mean, I wrote it. So rating myself high for a very difficult task completed.
December 29, 2025
I've spent many months reading The Mack. I had no intention of hurrying through it; I did want to finish it before the new year though, so I'm content!
I'm also wistful. I'm going to miss sitting down with a cup of tea to read a few pages and study pictures. I'd read each page a couple of times, there's just so much to take in. Robyne Calvert has done a mind-bogglingly outstanding job of creating a book that helps fill a corner of the void left by the terrible fires the Mack suffered. She's documented in as much detail as possible every aspect of the building from its creation, to its interior and furnishings, to the impact its had on so many. It would be a sad thing indeed if this book didn't exist.
A week or so ago, I saw a reference to the Hen Run, an especially-loved corridor in the Mack. It no longer exists, but I'd read so much about it, and studied pictures in detail, that for a moment, my brain tried to pull up my memories of having walked the Hen Run. I've never been to Scotland so of course that's impossible, but this book captures so much about the Hen Run that I could almost believe there was a memory somewhere in my head. What a gift this book will be to future generations.
I'm also wistful. I'm going to miss sitting down with a cup of tea to read a few pages and study pictures. I'd read each page a couple of times, there's just so much to take in. Robyne Calvert has done a mind-bogglingly outstanding job of creating a book that helps fill a corner of the void left by the terrible fires the Mack suffered. She's documented in as much detail as possible every aspect of the building from its creation, to its interior and furnishings, to the impact its had on so many. It would be a sad thing indeed if this book didn't exist.
A week or so ago, I saw a reference to the Hen Run, an especially-loved corridor in the Mack. It no longer exists, but I'd read so much about it, and studied pictures in detail, that for a moment, my brain tried to pull up my memories of having walked the Hen Run. I've never been to Scotland so of course that's impossible, but this book captures so much about the Hen Run that I could almost believe there was a memory somewhere in my head. What a gift this book will be to future generations.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews