History and Significance of the Glasgow School of Art

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The Glasgow School of Art was built by Charles Rennie Mackintosh from 1897 - 1909 in Glasgow, Scotland. In 1897, Mackintosh won a competition for the design of the Glasgow Building. However, it was a difficult piece of land to build on because of the very steep slope. The front end is located on Renfrew Street while the backside stretched down the steep hill. The Glasgow School of Art is constructed primarily out of wood, iron, and glass. Inside, their are studios, a lecture theater, a library, and a director's office. Also, the building itself shows nothing which could be considered eclectic. In fact, the Glasgow Building is considered very progressive.
Stylistically, it is a very important piece of architecture. Although the Glasgow Building was built during the heart of the Art Nouveau period, its style gives a strong indication of what is to come for the future in architectural style. The Art Nouveau period was frequently organic with elaborate decoration. There were often undulating curves and twists which combined into an unpredictable picture of mental knots. The Glasgow Building did not boast many of these features making its style more difficult to pinpoint. It is a style between styles. In fact, it presents several features which will become much more prominent in the years to come.
Still, several features of the Glasgow Building are Art Nouveau in style. First, their is a use of iron for some decoration, particularly around the windows. Iron is also used for the construction of the railings. However, the decoration created by the iron is relatively small when compared to a more Art Nouveau iron design such as Victor Hor...

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...werful as the large brick blocks which were used in the Glasgow Art Building. In the case of Goldman-Schwartz, it probably continues the theme of the red brick flemish bond which is present throughout the Brandeis campus. Therefore, it has little meaning towards the individuality of the building.
In all, both the Glasgow Art Building and the Goldman-Schwartz Art Building have a surprising number of similarities. Although they are located on two different continents, the styles are remarkably similar especially considering their function. Their similar goals to promote creativity by designing an open and free environment are perhaps, the most significant and interesting features of the structures. By comparing these features, it gives an indication of the serious dedication to art that has existed across the world regardless of history.

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