Rampant Scotland Directory!

Architecture



While Charles Rennie Mackintosh looms large, there are a number of other important aspects to architecture in Scotland, Glasgow becoming the UK City of Architecture and Design in 1999 being but one.



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Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland - RIAS

RIAS is the professional body for all chartered architects in Scotland and is the foremost architectural professional institute in the country dealing with architecture and the built environment. The RIAS has charitable status and offers a wide range of services and products for architects, students of architecture, construction industry professionals and all those with an interest in the built environment and the design process. This website provides details of all their services and products.

Architects of the Enlightenment

Describes Edinburgh architects of that era and Edinburgh New Town and Royal Mile with detailed maps and descriptive narrative.

Dictionary of Scottish Architects

This is a database providing biographical information and job lists for all architects known to have worked in Scotland during the period 1840-1940, whether as principals, assistants or apprentices. It is searchable by name or location of architect, practice, or building, as well as by client. All known published data and personal recollections have been collected together in a searchable form.

Architecture Heritage Society of Scotland

The Society originated in 1956 to respond to the threatened demolition of Edinburgh's George Square. The site has details of membership and aims.

Scottish Civic Trust

Founded in 1967, this is Scotland’s only voluntary organisation working to raise the quality of the whole built environment. It encourages public concern for the urban and rural environment and the conservation and/or adaptation for re-use of older buildings of distinction or historic interest. It operates Scotland’s Buildings at Risk Register designed to find new uses for a wide range of endangered buildings. It also co-ordinates annually throughout Scotland the Doors Open Day events during September weekends, when fine buildings of many types and uses, normally closed to the public, are opened free of charge.

Scottish Industrial Heritage Society

Concentrating on the interesting, surviving buildings which illustrate Scotland's industrial development, the web site was being reconstructed when last visited (January 2006). Which is a shame as it used to have a lot of useful pages.

ScottishArchitecture.com

This site focuses on showcasing the very best of Scottish Architectural design through featured projects, virtual exhibitions and tours. Education also plays a strong role within the website, with interactive elements and "student's guides". It is at the forefront of architectural news, featuring daily "headlines", a feature packed events diary, and opinion channel and discussion forum, debating what's hot in the world of architecture. The site also acts as a portal to other relevant sites

Main McCook Architects

This Web site of a firm of Chartered Architects based in Inverness has created a very useful List of Links to the websites of other Architects in Scotland, by region. This is more useful in many ways than the RIAS searchable database, where you have to enter search criteria and they then select matches for you.

Scottish Vernacular Buildings Working Group

"Vernacular buildings" are smaller traditional buildings, which use local materials and methods. They range in scale from huts to tower houses and are found throughout Scotland - both in town and country. The Working Group share an interest in these diverse buildings and their backgrounds.

Edinburgh Architectural Association

Architectural news and events from around Edinburgh and a list of all the architectural practices in the Edinburgh Architectural Association chapter area and a useful set of links - including the Scottish Building Regulations.

Edinburgh Contemporary Architecture

This site aims to inform both locals and an international audience of Edinburgh's architecture scene - topical issues, new buildings and masterplans. The website is focused on contemporary architecture, is updated daily, and linked to over 300 other Edinburgh sites.

Cockburn Association

The Cockburn Association works to promote and enhance the amenity of Edinburgh and its surroundings and to preserve its architectural heritage and landscape. A number of examples of what the association regards as bad decisions on the part of architects and planning authorities are given.

Glasgow Architecture, Glasgow Architects

This site aims to inform both locals and an international audience of Glasgow's vibrant contemporary architecture scene. The News page (currently the largest part of the site) aims to act as a both a resource and a forum for discussion of topical issues, new buildings and masterplans. As such, it is somewhat large, with lots of illustrative graphics.

The Lighthouse

Scotland's new centre for architecture, design and the city located in Mitchell Street, Glasgow. The Web site has a diary of events and exhibitions and background to the Mackintosh Room and conference facilities.

Royal Institute of Architecture in Scotland (RIAS)

In addition to providing information about the professional organisation for architects in Scotland the RIAS site provided an on-line bookshop and links to Scottish schools of architecture such as :

Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society

Dedicated to the great architect, this excellent site has a biography of CRM and extended pages on many of his buildings. The individual buldings covered include:

Glasgow School of Art

The redesigned pages not only provide information about the school for the benefit of prospective students but have sections on the architect of the school Charles Rennie Mackintosh and the School of Architecture..

DiCamillo Companion

This is a database of houses and buildings of archiectural significance.It aims to list every country house built in Britain and Ireland, standing or demolished. The Database is updated daily and currently lists over 6,500 houses. It includes as many details as can be found about the houses, families who occupied them, and their estates, in a standardized format.

Great Buildings Online

Coverage is of great buildings around the world, with details of architect, dates, description and in many cases illustrations. The buildings in Scotland include the following:

Carnegie Libraries of Scotland

An extensive site with information - and detailed coloured drawings - of the libraries which were created in Scotland as a result of the benefaction of industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. The various styles of architecture are discussed and there are photographs from 1907 of the inside of some of the buildings. There is also a comparative study of Carnegie's American libraries and a biography of Carnegie.

Glasgow - City of Sculpture

Not just sculpture but the work and biographies of over 220 sculptors and architects connected with Glasgow, covering over four centuries, with a wealth of material from the 'golden years' of the Victorian era. The pages covering the biographies of individual sculptors (and there are a lot of them) are particularly rich in illustrations.

Glasgow Building Preservation Trust

The Trust seeks to identify and tackle the rescue, repair, restoration and rehabilitation of historic or architecturally significant buildings, using materials appropriate to their age, style and structure whilst taking advantage of more modern techniques where improvements have been made. It now takes on several projects per year (details of current ones are on the site) as well as providing consultancy services and organising the annual Doors Open Days event in Glasgow.

Glasgow's Merchant City

The Merchant City Townscape Heritage Initiative is a five year grants programme aimed at regenerating the built environment at the historic heart of Glasgow. The site not only covers thr financial aspects of the programme but also a history and an architectural tour of the area.

Architecture on Glasgow's Cathcart Circle

Using as a base the routeof Glasgow's southern suburban railway line, this is a well-illustrated tour of many of the fine buildings which can be found close-by. Included are Alexander "Greek" Thomson designs such as Holmwood House, No. 1 Moray Place, and Maria Villa, Langside. Also covered are Cathcart Old Parish Church, Holmlea School and Sir John Maxwell School, Haggs Castle, Battlefield Rest, Pollok House, Cathcart Parish Council Chambers and St Albert's Church Pollokshields - and many others.

Glasgow and Edinburgh - a Trail of Two Cities

This site has Gerry Blaikie's great architectural drawings and brief description of buildings of note in Scotland's two largest cities. The site is divided into:

Works of David Hamilton (1768-1843)

Based on an article which appeared in the Scottish Field in 1968 about the Glasgow architect who, although not as famous as Mackintosh or Thomson, was regarded in his day as highly successful and innovative. Drawings and illustrations of a number of his works are included in this site, including Lennox Castle and Airth Castle as well as Hamilton Palace and Royal Exchange. His proposal for the Houses of Parliament at Westminster (he came third in the competition) are also included.



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Where else would you like to go in Scotland?

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