The first in-depth study of the architecture of Charles Rennie Mackintosh is to begin at the University of Glasgow early next year.
The pioneering research project ‘Mackintosh Architecture: Context, Making and Meaning’, led by Professor Pamela Robertson, has been made possible through a major grant of almost £620,000 from the Arts and Humanities Research Council.
'Mackintosh Architecture' will provide for the first time a comprehensive, in-depth evaluation of his achievements as an architect based on an innovative and authoritative combination of archival research, building survey and analysis.
Pamela Robertson, Professor of Mackintosh Studies at the University of Glasgow’s Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery said: “This funding will allow us to refocus on Mackintosh’s core activity as an architect giving us a better understanding of the evolution of these landmark buildings, their patrons and makers, success and influence.’’
The three-year nine-month project, in partnership with Historic Scotland and the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland, will deliver a thorough analysis of the context, importance and contribution of Mackintosh's architecture.
It will generate the first detailed catalogues raisonnés of Mackintosh's architectural projects and his architectural designs, together with transcriptions from the practice job-books and other archival sources. It will systematically identify and research the wider networks of clients, contractors and tradesmen and define their contributions. Physical surveys by Historic Scotland and the Royal Commission will identify construction methods, materials, and technology used, and confirm the history of subsequent change.
The completed research will be made available through a free-access, online database with results analysed in a series of specialist, on-line essays and an exhibition and conference organised by the Hunterian at the end of the project.
