Glasgow is a city in crisis once more. The immediate post-war decades brought little beyond six-lane motorways and the comprehensive redevelopment of vast tracts of the city and yet, enough survived to be appreciated in the 80’s and 90’s, when Glasgow was restored and celebrated once more as one of our great, vibrant regional BritishContinue reading “Blog 87 Glasgow’s Architectural Heritage Crisis”
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Blog 86
Fortingall I always enjoy returning to Fortingall, the model village which was created by shipping magnate Sir Donald Currie and architect James MacLaren. Currie made his fortune from the Union Castle Line which plied the route between Southampton and Cape Town in South Africa and he bought the Garth Estate in Glen Lyon in ScotlandContinue reading “Blog 86”
Blog 85
100 years ago, 1924 saw the completion of the Copenhagen Police Headquarters building. This proved to be Hack Kampmann’s (1856-1920) swansong and a fitting end to the career of the most prolific Danish architect of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Like the best Nordic Classical work, Kampmann’s Politigården is designed to evoke a strong emotionalContinue reading “Blog 85”
Blog 84
The Union Bank of Scotland 1924-27 100 years ago, in 1924, Norman Hird, the dynamic new 39 year-old General Manager of the Union Bank of Scotland announced an architectural competition for the design of their new headquarters building in Glasgow. The winning entry was that of James Miller who, by the 1920’s, had succeeded JJContinue reading “Blog 84”
Blog 83
The New Sculpture One of the joys of researching my latest book on Architectural sculpture was discovering more about the late nineteenth century New Sculpture Movement. Inspired by the works of Alfred Stevens, Aime-Jules Dalou and Frederick Leighton a new generation of sculptors including George Frampton, Alfred Gilbert and Harry Bates brought a new vitalityContinue reading “Blog 83”
Blog 82
There are many contemporary landscape architects whom I admire including Christopher Bradley-Hole, Fernando Caruncho and Martha Schwartz amongst others, but for me personally, there’s one whose work just strikes a particular chord with me – the Italian Luciano Giubbilei. Born in Siena, he moved to London to study landscape architecture at the Inchbald School ofContinue reading “Blog 82”
Blog 81
My latest book is a paean to the lost art of architectural sculpture in which architects and sculptors collaborated to produce the richly carved and beautifully decorated buildings that make up so much of our rich British architectural heritage. When researching the Glasgow architects JJ Burnet and James Miller for my previous book on theirContinue reading “Blog 81”
Blog 80
I finally made it to Kelmscott Manor in Oxfordshire, the country home of William Morris, a few weeks ago. Morris was one of the most culturally influential late Victorians, as a key member of the Arts and Crafts Movement, artist, poet, socialist activist and of course as the founder of Morris and Co. whose textileContinue reading “Blog 80”
Blog 79
I have finally completed my book on British Architectural Sculpture and it will be published later this year by Lund Humphries. Its been another fascinating piece of research into what has become almost a lost art form which has taken me across the UK in search of the best examples. The book spans the periodContinue reading “Blog 79”
Blog 78
Baron Marochetti Baron Pietro Carlo Giovanni Battista Marochetti (1805 – 1867) was an Italian-born French artist who settled in Britain in 1848, after which he established himself as the most successful and sought-after sculptor in the country. He completed numerous public sculptures, usually in the neo-classical style, plus reliefs, memorials and large equestrian monuments in bronzeContinue reading “Blog 78”
John Stewart 