It is no exaggeration to say that Charles Rennie Mackintosh could have been the world’s greatest architect. The handful of buildings completed to his designs blend lightness and weight, with their solid baronial façades (the Glasgow School of Art) and ethereal interiors (Helensburgh’s Hill House), a hint of Japonisme here (the Lighthouse) and a big slap of art nouveau there (the Willow Tearooms).
And yet, at least while Mackintosh was alive, few appreciated him. That he designed only that handful is testament to the architect’s frustration with his profession — and perhaps the lukewarm reception he received at the time.
Still, those designs have proved enough. Mackintosh’s fortunes have changed, and he has become Scotland’s great father of the built landscape. How would Kirkcaldy-born Robert
