Charles Rennie Mackintosh Symposium - Day 1

Name: Charles Rennie Mackintosh Symposium - Day 1
Start: 2024-06-06T08:15:00+00:00
End: 2024-06-06T17:00:00+00:00
Location: Mackintosh Queen's Cross

Schedule

Thu Jun 06 2024 at 08:15 am to 05:00 pm

UTC+00:00

Location

Mackintosh Queen's Cross | Glasgow, SC

Our theme for our 2024 symposium is ‘Heritage Under Threat’
Day 1 includes the current restoration work at Scotland Street School and The Hill House, the uncertain future of the Lighthouse and Martyrs’ School, plus the ongoing work to rebuild the Mackintosh Building at the Glasgow School of Art. We will also cover major issues and challenges facing the wider heritage of Glasgow.
Tickets for the symposium are available from Eventbrite and cost £45 per day or £70 for both days (includes lunch & refreshments). Virtual tickets for the Symposium cost £15 per day.
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/mackintosh-symposium-heritage-under-threat-tickets-867503605637

FULL PROGRAM FOR DAY 1
9:15-9:45 Registration, coffee & pastries

9:45-10:00 Introduction by Michael Dale to the Second Symposium on the state of CRM’s heritage.

An overview comparing the issues and status of CRM’s heritage in 1973 (the reasons for the founding of the Society), in 2012 (the prosperous status of things at the time of the first symposium) and the situation now in 2024.

Day 1 Chair: Peter Ranson

10:00-12:45 Part 1 of Proceedings. Society and Research Focussed.

1. Restoring, Managing and Repurposing Queen’s Cross Church
Stuart Robertson
Director, CRM Society

A historic overview of restoring, managing and reinventing a repurposed church of significant architectural merit.
By the 1970s as the population declined Queen’s Cross could not continue as a viable church and in 1976 the congregation merged with that of nearby Ruchill Church. The following year the Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society stepped in to save the building and negotiated a 21-year lease from the Church of Scotland. In 1999 the Society was able to purchase Queen’s Cross as a result of a generous donation from Dr Thomas Howarth.
2. ‘Mackintosh Architecture: Context, Making and Meaning’ – the project and its legacy
Joseph Sharples
Curator of Mackintosh Collections
& Applied Art: The Hunterian

The University of Glasgow’s Mackintosh Architecture project was completed in July 2014 with the launch of the website www.mackintosh-architecture.gla.ac.uk.
The research project, which ran from 2010 to 2014, was led by The Hunterian at the University of Glasgow and was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. It aimed to provide the first authoritative survey of the architectural work of Charles Rennie Mackintosh.
11:00-11:20 - Coffee break

3. Mackintosh Buildings Survey Update
Brian Park: Retired Conservation Architect
John Sanders: Partner at Simpson & Brown Architects

In 2016 the Society completed a major survey of the surviving Mackintosh built heritage. This was a landmark achievement and the first comprehensive condition survey of the Mackintosh built heritage and an important milestone in our understanding and preservation of Mackintosh’s legacy.
The central aim of the Survey was to determine the current condition of a range of prioritised Mackintosh buildings and related works, including interiors and gravestones, within public and private ownership. The survey work was undertaken by Simpson & Brown Architects and Page\Park Architects and was led by the Society’s director Stuart Robertson and board member Pamela Robertson, former Professor of Mackintosh Studies at the University of Glasgow.

Discussion panel on the topic of where next and what next.

12:30-13:30 – Lunch in the Hall

13:30-15:30 Part 2 of Proceedings. Case studies: Challenges and Achievements

1. Scotland Street School: Reuse and Repair
Mandy Fallens BSc(Hons), BArch, RIBA
Senior Architect at Glasgow City Council

The Scotland Street School project is currently on site with a first phase of external fabric repair works, including roof repairs and lead work. The building was in use solely a museum since 1990, but has been closed to the public since 2020. Part of the project brief is the reintroduction of an education function in the form of an early years facility for 3-5 year olds on the ground floor. We will discuss the challenges of incorporating an early years facility into the 1906 Category A Listed Building to meet the current curriculum standards, and provide an overview of the ongoing fabric repair works, building investigations and surveys.
2. The Hill House: Not judging a Book by just its Cover
Liz Davidson:
Project Director: The Hill House
At the Hill House – Mackintosh and Macdonald fused architecture and artistry to create a happy family home for the Blackie family. With little alteration that home now welcomes thousands of visitors each year. But the technical and fabric problems of the construction emerged relatively shortly after its completion in 1904. In 2019 the Box was erected to cover and allow time for its considered repair. This presentation will assess this strategy and the timeline for a major conservation project to start – and complete - in time for the anniversary year in 2028.
3. Bringing Back the “Mack”
Eleanor Magennis:
Director of Estates and Infrastructure at The Glasgow School of Art overseeing new Digital and Estates Strategies including the faithful reinstatement of the Mackintosh building.
An insight into the extensive work that has taken place at the Mackintosh Building in preparation for a faithful reconstruction of this masterpiece.
4. Rescuing Mackintosh at the Willow
Stewart Brown:
Founding Partner of Simpson & Brown, Architects, now retired and Trustee of The Willow Tea Rooms Trust for 8 years.

Key steps in rescuing a building under threat and redeveloping it through restoration to become a commercial (and social and educational) enterprise.
Questions for speakers on issues of approach, authenticity and meeting modern building needs and regulations.

15:30-15:50 - Tea break

15:50 -17:30 Part 3 of Proceedings. Thomson’s lost Buildings and Preserving the displaced Mackintosh heritage.

5. Thomson’s lost Buildings and those at Risk
Scott Abercrombie & Fiona Sinclair:
The Alexander Thomson Society

Founded in 1991. The Alexander Thomson Society works to promote and safeguard the works of the Scottish architect Alexander ‘Greek’ Thomson.

6. Glasgow Museums Collections & Rescued Civic Heritage
Alison Brown:
Curator, European Decorative Art and Design from 1800 to present Glasgow Museums and Collections

Over the last thirty years Glasgow Museums have had opportunities to restore the Ingram Street Tearooms interiors for exhibition or for collaborative loan, but the civic collections also home lesser-known heritage items removed from buildings now lost to us or before conversion to other use: stained glass, interior panelling, furniture and fittings, etc. When there are no such things as elastic walls, what are the most important considerations and roles in the 21st Century for museum collections regarding built heritage?

Questions for speakers on issues relating to broader heritage preservation issues of today.

17:30-17:45Concluding thoughts of Day 1

Please note that the symposium programme is subject to change.