What would be the best way to discretely talk about my week-end in Glasgow, but to talk about the city’s most famous designer and architect, Charles Rennie Mackintosh?
My friend wikipédia says :
“Charles Rennie Mackintosh (June 7, 1868–December 10, 1928) was a Scottish architect, designer, and watercolourist. He was a designer in the Arts and Crafts movement and also the main exponent of Art Nouveau in the United Kingdom. He had a considerable influence on European design.” If you are not familiar with his work, I highly suggest you to take a look. Not only does his work features fantastic examples of geometric patterns, but it also have a strong graphical impact. His furniture design is incredibly modern, as is his architectural work: white space, light, dark, every thing he works on is rigorously built on an invisible grid. Meanwhile, he aslo plays on assymetry, which gives his buildings a strange sense of rigorous difformity. (I’m no Mackintosh expert, and there’s plenty of things you can find about him if you are interested in more of his work)
His main glaswegian realisation, the Glasgow School of Arts, celebrates its 100th anniversary this year — hence my little city trip there (plus the fact that ryanair held a special 2€50 tickets rate).Let me be clear: I’m not a big city person. I don’t like crowds, subways, and over-sized shopping mall. I knew going there, that the city would be too big for me. Fortunately, the city in itself isn’t surrounded by cars, and the bad weather prevented the streets to be overcrowded. The architecture is amazing, and the overall mood felt quite welcoming. All in all, it would have been a perfect trip.If it wasn’t for my city guide book, which was completely outdated. While being stamped as 2009 edition, most of the restaurants were not there anymore, rates had changes, and worst, opening hours were all wrong. That’s why I had to walk back and forth in different places of the city, and that I did missed most of the C.R Mackinthosh attractions. In Scotland, (and I believe in most of the UK), everything closes at 5P.M and only open at 10 A.M on week-ends — this far too short period of time was not sufficient for me to complete all the schedule I’d plan. I just don’t tell you about plane problems, airport security checks (I always controlled heavily, do I look like a terrorist?)
Anyway, random facts, because we all love random facts:
UK girls are the result of an infamous human experiment. Their bodies were horribly mutilated inside, to make them acclimate the cold. How could they walk under the snow, sporting only mini skirts and tees, while I was freezing with a coat and a scarf? The mystery remains.
Glasgow is actually San Francisco. No one told me that it was such undulating place. You have to climb some streets as you climb a moutain.
Haggis is for sissys. We were told that Haggis was quite a tough dish. The kind that make you think twice before you eat it. 1/ it’s pretty good. 2/I live in a place were the local speciality is animal guts, cooked in all the possible forms. Tripes, Chitterlings, blood pudding… I eat this on breakfast lads.
Scottish people really talk another language. I don’t practise my spoken english often, but I mainly do understand everything. Burger King guy, sorry if I had you repeating twice, but I really didn’t get a word of what you said.
Next time, I’ll ask for help to a “local”, I’m sure I’ve missed most of the great things there was to see. I’ll be uploading pics on Flick’R for the curious. See you tommorow for an inspiration post.
Love and aftershave,
Zélia.
