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Glasgow: The Latest Architecture and News

OMA designed Maggie Gartnaval Opens Today

OMA designed Maggie Gartnaval Opens Today - Image 6 of 4
Image courtesy of OMA; photography by Philippe Ruault

Today marks the opening of Maggie’s Gartnaval, a new center for the charity located on the ground of Gartnaval Royal Infirmary in Glasgow, Scotland. Designed by OMA, the center aims to provide emotional and psychological support to those affected by cancer in the greater Glasgow area.

Rem Koolhaas commented, “We were touched to be asked to design a Maggie’s Centre, and invigorated by the opportunity to work on a completely different scale, with different ambitions, and in a different environment. Maggie’s is so unique and urgent among the projects we are working on.”

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A First Glance at Zaha Hadid's Glasgow Riverside Museum of Transport / Zaha Hadid Architects

A First Glance at Zaha Hadid's Glasgow Riverside Museum of Transport / Zaha Hadid Architects - Museum, FacadeA First Glance at Zaha Hadid's Glasgow Riverside Museum of Transport / Zaha Hadid Architects - Museum, FacadeA First Glance at Zaha Hadid's Glasgow Riverside Museum of Transport / Zaha Hadid Architects - Museum, FacadeA First Glance at Zaha Hadid's Glasgow Riverside Museum of Transport / Zaha Hadid Architects - MuseumA First Glance at Zaha Hadid's Glasgow Riverside Museum of Transport / Zaha Hadid Architects - More Images+ 10

Update: Glasgow School of Art / Steven Holl

Update: Glasgow School of Art / Steven Holl - Image 1 of 4
Courtesy of Steven Holl Architects

Plans for the new Glasgow School of Art building, designed by Steven Holl Architects in association with JM Architects, received approval from the Glasgow City Council’s planning committee this week. Site preparations are scheduled for this summer, and work on the new building will immediately follow with construction scheduled to take around two years. The five story building will reside directly opposite of Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s masterful Glasgow School of Art building.

Debate Over the Design for the Glasgow School of Art by Steven Holl

Debate Over the Design for the Glasgow School of Art by Steven Holl - Image 4 of 4
Courtesy of Steven Holl Architects

Debate continues on the design for the Glasgow School of Art by Steven Holl Architects in collaboration with Glasgow based JM Architects. Last month William J.R. Curtis shared his critical thoughts on the new extension, referencing the diagrams by Holl as ‘cartoonlike’, the surface choices of glass ‘monotonous’, and the external volumes as ‘clumsy’. As we all know architecture is subjective and debate should be welcomed, hopefully resulting in a smart discussion focused on providing the best design solutions for a project. A critique of an extension to a building with such importance as Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s Glasgow School of Art, a design that masterfully manipulates light into spaces and skillfully the nature of different materials, is expected. However, this review almost seemed personal and a bit uninformed. Curtis, during his critical rant even asks “where was the client during these intervening months?” referring to the initial announcement and presentation of Holl’s winning design and then later released drawings.

Continuing, “The unsatisfactory state of Holl’s proposal perhaps reveals what may happen when a star architect drops in from another planet and blinds a building committee with the “smoke and mirrors” of popularized phenomenology. Some good old Scottish common sense would have been in order to insist on greater rigor and a more appropriate response to the context.”

Holl took time to respond to Curtis’ article stating, “We welcome criticism as long as it’s based on an accurate understanding of our design. Unfortunately William Curtis’ article is not knowledgeable about our design,” and Holl also shares specifics about both the design material choices for the new extension (his full response following the break).

Update: Glasgow School of Art / Steven Holl

Back in 2009, over 150 firms across the world entered the Glasgow School of Art competition which was seeking an architect-led team to create a building opposite Mackintosh’s masterpiece. Steven Holl, in collaboration with Glasgow-based JM Architects, proposed a submission that capitalized on the changing quality of light throughout the spaces. Holl’s vision responds to Mackintosh’s sectional emphasis by implementing large voids of light – the “circuit of connection ” – that slice through the spaces to “encourage the creative contact central to the workings of the school.”

When we visited Holl’s office, we talked Senior Partner Chris McVoy about the importance of the section for this particular project (we also chatted about their latest Shan-Shui master plan). One hundred years have passed since Mackintosh’s building opened for the School of Art, yet, as McVoy explains, although the structures represent completely different times, their attention to architectural elements, such as light, materiality and proportion, will create a relationship between the two.

Enjoy the video! Credits after the break.