0:00:02 > 0:00:07This is Glasgow's School of Art. It's a controversial building. Some have seen it as spooky or prison-like,
0:00:07 > 0:00:12others have praised it to the skies and compared it with the work of the great Michelangelo.
0:00:12 > 0:00:15Actually, when it was first built, no-one took much notice at all.
0:00:15 > 0:00:21But since then, it's been seen as heralding the dawn of a very British form of modern architecture.
0:00:21 > 0:00:25'This is Climbing Great Buildings. Throughout this series,
0:00:25 > 0:00:28'I'll be scaling our most iconic and best-loved structures
0:00:28 > 0:00:31- 'from the Normans to the present day.'- Wahey!
0:00:31 > 0:00:34'I'll be revealing the building's secrets
0:00:34 > 0:00:39'and telling the story of how British architecture and construction developed over 1,000 years.'
0:00:45 > 0:00:51'The next step in my journey through the history of Britain's greatest buildings brings me to Glasgow.'
0:00:52 > 0:00:58'Built in 1897, the School of Art is a major landmark in the history of modern design.'
0:00:59 > 0:01:03'Its creator, a young Glaswegian artist called Charles Rennie Mackintosh,
0:01:03 > 0:01:07'went on to inspire architects and artists throughout the 20th century.'
0:01:09 > 0:01:13'To discover the inspiration behind this innovative building,
0:01:13 > 0:01:15'I've been given unprecedented access
0:01:15 > 0:01:18'to get a perspective of the School of Art never seen before.'
0:01:18 > 0:01:20Look at that. Imagine cutting that.
0:01:21 > 0:01:26'I'll scale 90 feet up the west front to stand next to Mackintosh's colossal windows.'
0:01:26 > 0:01:29All we're going to do is swing five or six inches that way
0:01:29 > 0:01:33and the whole thing becomes more like the beginnings of a skyscraper.
0:01:33 > 0:01:37'Perform some complicated acrobatics to understand the museum's construction.'
0:01:37 > 0:01:39HE LAUGHS
0:01:39 > 0:01:43I always wondered whether it would stand me in good stead, climbing apple trees. It did.
0:01:43 > 0:01:48'And get a unique view of Glasgow from the top of this architectural masterpiece.'
0:01:48 > 0:01:54- Glorious view, Luce.- It's amazing. Wow. What a cool place to be!
0:01:54 > 0:02:00- 'As ever, I'll be joined by my trusty team, climbing champion Lucy Creamer...'- Whoo-hoo!
0:02:00 > 0:02:05'..her team of riggers and fearless cameraman Ian Burton...'
0:02:06 > 0:02:09'..to reveal how the imagination of one visionary man
0:02:09 > 0:02:15'created a unique building which helped pave the way for Modernist architecture.'
0:02:18 > 0:02:23Glasgow School of Art was founded in another part of the city in 1845.
0:02:23 > 0:02:26But in the first half-century of its life,
0:02:26 > 0:02:29it did so well that new, larger premises were needed.
0:02:29 > 0:02:34In 1896, a competition was launched for a new building on this site.
0:02:34 > 0:02:38Now, it's an awkward one, being on the side of a steep hill.
0:02:38 > 0:02:39But it tempted a young designer
0:02:39 > 0:02:42working for a local firm of architects
0:02:42 > 0:02:46called Honeyman and Keppie.
0:02:47 > 0:02:49'The young designer was Charles Rennie Mackintosh,
0:02:49 > 0:02:53'a 28-year-old architect who'd studied at the original art school.'
0:02:53 > 0:02:59'He won the commission to build a plain new school on a shoestring budget of just £14,000.'
0:02:59 > 0:03:03'This happened in the closing years of the 19th century
0:03:03 > 0:03:09'when an industrial boom had transformed Glasgow into a typically grand Victorian city.'
0:03:11 > 0:03:13It's amazing to think that the School of Art
0:03:13 > 0:03:15was conceived in the Victorian age
0:03:15 > 0:03:19when architects found it impossible to shake off historical styles,
0:03:19 > 0:03:23whether Gothic or Classical or 101 other styles.
0:03:23 > 0:03:26I wonder if the governors thought that
0:03:26 > 0:03:30by commissioning a plain building without lots of carved ornament
0:03:30 > 0:03:33they'd be getting something a bit cheaper. They'd be wrong about that,
0:03:33 > 0:03:38because inside it's stuffed with craftsman-made symbolic detail
0:03:38 > 0:03:42telling heady stories of everything from home-grown Scottish castles
0:03:42 > 0:03:46to exotic Japanese heraldry, and I want to unpick some of that.
0:03:50 > 0:03:55'Given that this is an art school, Mackintosh wanted to inspire budding artists
0:03:55 > 0:03:59'by surrounding them with all the latest ideas that were thriving in the art world
0:03:59 > 0:04:02'at the dawn of the 20th century.'
0:04:03 > 0:04:05Nothing is ordinary in Glasgow School of Art.
0:04:05 > 0:04:11Not even the doors, which have these beautiful clenched rosebuds in the stained glass.
0:04:11 > 0:04:13Now, flowers are important for Mackintosh.
0:04:13 > 0:04:17He said, "Art is the flower, life is this green leaf,
0:04:17 > 0:04:23"let every artist strive to make his flower a beautiful living thing."
0:04:23 > 0:04:28And that's the central issue for artists, of course. Their flowers have to live beyond them.
0:04:32 > 0:04:35'Today, Mackintosh's designs are instantly recognisable.'
0:04:35 > 0:04:39'His style represents a take on the fashionable new movement, Art Nouveau.'
0:04:39 > 0:04:44'Originating in Paris, Vienna and Brussels, and spread widely across the world,
0:04:44 > 0:04:48'Art Nouveau is characterised by organic, mainly floral designs
0:04:48 > 0:04:51'which curve and flow into delicate forms.'
0:04:52 > 0:04:57'The building is full of examples of this new European style.'
0:04:57 > 0:05:00'But it's not that simple. Mackintosh also wanted to ground the building
0:05:00 > 0:05:03'in the traditions of Scottish heritage.'
0:05:03 > 0:05:07'Every facade of the school is different and has a unique story to tell.'
0:05:07 > 0:05:10'The setting for my first climb is the east wall,
0:05:10 > 0:05:14'inspired by Celtic castles and baronial palaces.'
0:05:14 > 0:05:19- This is really quite a formidable expanse, isn't it?- Yeah.
0:05:19 > 0:05:22- A little bit like back to Caernarfon. - Yeah!
0:05:22 > 0:05:24- Didn't expect that with the School of Art.- No.
0:05:24 > 0:05:29School of archery, maybe, not School of Art. Let's have a look.
0:05:32 > 0:05:36'The Glasgow School of Art follows the scale of the city's tenement buildings,
0:05:36 > 0:05:40'respecting the grid system on which Glasgow is laid out.'
0:05:40 > 0:05:45'But Mackintosh's use of building materials sets it apart from its neighbours.'
0:05:46 > 0:05:51- It's like a cliff, isn't it?- Yeah.- I think you'd be quite at home on that. - I would!
0:05:51 > 0:05:53And it's quite rough stone, too,
0:05:53 > 0:05:56the way in which this is deliberately
0:05:56 > 0:05:59pecked and hacked to make it look coarse.
0:05:59 > 0:06:02- Oh, that's done on purpose?- Yeah.
0:06:02 > 0:06:07You see, on the other side of the road, there are what are called ashlar blocks.
0:06:07 > 0:06:11- The smooth...- Yeah, they're regular sizes and they're plain, smooth, and it's very polite.
0:06:11 > 0:06:16- Whereas here it's much more like a castle or something.- Yeah. - It's rough and it's defensible.
0:06:16 > 0:06:19- And look at the depth those doors are set back from.- Yeah.
0:06:19 > 0:06:22He's really expressing the thickness of the walls,
0:06:22 > 0:06:27- so you've got solid masonry, it's rough, it's a pretty butch-looking building.- It is.
0:06:27 > 0:06:32- But, on the other hand, there are delicacies.- Yeah.
0:06:32 > 0:06:36- He's a man who tries to balance opposites. - Yeah.- And create a tension.
0:06:36 > 0:06:42It reminds me a bit of a fairytale castle, where some kind of virtue is being defended.
0:06:42 > 0:06:47The defence of the virtue and the skill of art in there.
0:06:49 > 0:06:51Let's press ahead, shall we?
0:06:57 > 0:07:02The quality of the masonry, each block. I mean, look at that. Imagine cutting that one.
0:07:02 > 0:07:05- Yeah.- Getting the templates and saying, "Just knock that out."
0:07:05 > 0:07:09- Is it one... That almost looks like it's one whole block. - It's one stone.
0:07:09 > 0:07:15If there's something of the castle about this building, it's blocks of that size
0:07:15 > 0:07:19and motifs like this, which give it just that echo.
0:07:19 > 0:07:21It's a reminder. That's what it is.
0:07:21 > 0:07:24But the solidity of the thing makes you take it seriously.
0:07:25 > 0:07:28- Let's get a move on, shall we? - Shall we? OK.
0:07:35 > 0:07:39Well, if these are the battlements, you could be mistaken
0:07:39 > 0:07:45- for thinking of this as a turret with arrow loop windows.- Absolutely. - Just slits in the wall.
0:07:45 > 0:07:49- Glorious view, Luce.- It's amazing.
0:07:49 > 0:07:53- Wow. What a cool place to be. - How fabulous.
0:08:00 > 0:08:05What a thing to greet you. Beautiful sculpture at the top of the building.
0:08:05 > 0:08:11It looks like a tree, maybe even something like a cheese plant by the shape of the leaves.
0:08:11 > 0:08:13And with a bird on the top.
0:08:13 > 0:08:17And it reminds you that Mackintosh comes from an environment
0:08:17 > 0:08:22which is not only Celtic in its origins, but increasingly involved with symbols
0:08:22 > 0:08:26and a kind of mysticism which returned to nature for its inspiration.
0:08:37 > 0:08:40This is the School of Art. Lucy, are you feeling inspired?
0:08:40 > 0:08:46I'm actually liking this building. The more we're discovering, the more you're telling me, it's intriguing.
0:08:51 > 0:08:55'16 years before Mackintosh completed the east wall,
0:08:55 > 0:08:58'he was a student at the original School of Art.'
0:08:59 > 0:09:03'Fortunately, some drawings of his early ideas still remain today.'
0:09:03 > 0:09:08'These give us an insight into what inspired Mackintosh's famous designs.'
0:09:08 > 0:09:13Now, I see on this book plant forms and heart shapes and seeds and so on.
0:09:13 > 0:09:20- Tell me about this. - Yes, we have here in the school four volumes dated from 1894.
0:09:20 > 0:09:24It was an interesting time for students here.
0:09:24 > 0:09:28End of the century, looking perhaps to the start of the 20th century.
0:09:28 > 0:09:30And at the same time this is being produced,
0:09:30 > 0:09:37in places like Paris and Vienna, the Art Nouveau movement is coming up with a recipe for a new century.
0:09:37 > 0:09:42Yeah. The ideas that are being felt in these four volumes
0:09:42 > 0:09:45are the very same ideas that other artists and designers
0:09:45 > 0:09:48across all of Europe were thinking at the same time.
0:09:48 > 0:09:52There are lots of things in these drawings which chime with Mackintosh.
0:09:52 > 0:09:56He's producing here, in these magazines,
0:09:56 > 0:10:01imagery that ultimately is what most people perceive as being particular of Mackintosh.
0:10:01 > 0:10:05What you see here is he's producing motifs and designs in two dimensions
0:10:05 > 0:10:12which, very shortly after, start appearing in buildings and interiors in three dimensions.
0:10:13 > 0:10:19'Mackintosh's work really comes to life when his ideas are translated from paper into form and space.'
0:10:19 > 0:10:24So, Lucy, this is the heart of the building. It's a gallery and exhibition space.
0:10:24 > 0:10:30These uncluttered walls are ideal for hanging paintings, but above them is this fantastic roof structure.
0:10:31 > 0:10:35'I'm using a complex pulley system to get up close to the roof.'
0:10:37 > 0:10:41'And, like Lucy, Mackintosh never keeps things simple.'
0:10:41 > 0:10:46'He uses the building's structure to have fun with traditional architectural styles.'
0:10:47 > 0:10:50I think Mackintosh is up to playing some tricks here.
0:10:50 > 0:10:53You see that behind me is a post
0:10:53 > 0:10:58and it goes not quite up to the roof, but it ends in a capital
0:10:58 > 0:11:04and then a beam travels along a little way over the top of it.
0:11:04 > 0:11:07Now, at the far end of the room on each side,
0:11:07 > 0:11:12these capitals are just suspended. Mackintosh is being an architectural joker.
0:11:12 > 0:11:17And the joke of all this, of course, is that normally with a Classical column, you put a capital on the top
0:11:17 > 0:11:21because it does all the supporting, it's a pad to carry the building above.
0:11:21 > 0:11:25Instead, the building is suspending that pad.
0:11:25 > 0:11:31So if he's playing jokes, I want to see whether or not these are actually performing any function at all
0:11:31 > 0:11:35or if they're purely decorative. And the way I'll find that out is to see how they're fixed.
0:11:35 > 0:11:40So I need to get up here. Do I do that by putting my feet around the rope and pulling myself horizontal?
0:11:40 > 0:11:43Try that. If you can get your feet up
0:11:43 > 0:11:45and I'll clip into your D-ring.
0:11:45 > 0:11:48Yes! Good effort. Brilliant.
0:11:48 > 0:11:50HE LAUGHS
0:11:50 > 0:11:55I always wondered whether it would stand me in good stead, climbing up apple trees. It did.
0:11:55 > 0:11:58And now I know why. There's a reason for everything.
0:12:01 > 0:12:04- That is fascinating, Lou. - Can you see?- Yeah.- Oh, great.
0:12:04 > 0:12:11What that square capital looks to be supporting is actually a different piece of timber than what's below it.
0:12:11 > 0:12:15- Ahh.- So what you've got there is a suspended squared piece of timber
0:12:15 > 0:12:19that's sitting on a capital that doesn't even support it.
0:12:19 > 0:12:22There's no structural need for that to be there.
0:12:22 > 0:12:25- And it confirms what he's doing at each end of the room.- Yeah.
0:12:25 > 0:12:29- Saying, "Look, if I pull the column away..."- It doesn't matter. - No difference, yeah.
0:12:29 > 0:12:31He's a showman, this boy, isn't he?
0:12:31 > 0:12:35SHE LAUGHS I think he's fantastic.
0:12:35 > 0:12:38Right, Lou, I've got an appointment with a bird and a fish.
0:12:38 > 0:12:43- Great. OK.- I haven't gone bonkers. I'll show you what I mean.
0:12:45 > 0:12:49- Oh, yeah, I'm getting the picture. - Look at that.- Yeah.
0:12:49 > 0:12:54This fine metal sculpture takes as its inspiration the features of the city's coat of arms,
0:12:54 > 0:12:59which are drawn from a folk rhyme celebrating the legends of St Mungo, the city's patron saint.
0:12:59 > 0:13:03And it runs, "This is the tree that never grew,
0:13:03 > 0:13:05this is the bird that never flew,
0:13:05 > 0:13:07this is the fish that never swam,
0:13:07 > 0:13:09and this is the bell that never rang."
0:13:09 > 0:13:12Poetry in metal.
0:13:26 > 0:13:29'In stark contrast to the rough exterior of the east front,
0:13:29 > 0:13:32'the north facade is covered in smooth, rich stone
0:13:32 > 0:13:35'with large windows designed to capture the northern light.'
0:13:41 > 0:13:45This is still the original entrance and exit to the School of Art
0:13:45 > 0:13:47in the middle of the north front.
0:13:47 > 0:13:50Still, amazingly, with the original name plate over the door,
0:13:50 > 0:13:54carefully repainted with Mackintosh's own font.
0:13:54 > 0:14:00To have the letter form complement the architecture, well that's thorough design.
0:14:02 > 0:14:05The north front seems to be defended by this great iron railing
0:14:05 > 0:14:08that rises to 17 feet in all.
0:14:08 > 0:14:13These main posts look like... Well, maybe it's a bunch of flowers with a rainbow around it.
0:14:13 > 0:14:16Or could it be a quiver of arrows in the middle of a bow?
0:14:16 > 0:14:21In any case, it rises through a point to a great disc of metal on each one
0:14:21 > 0:14:25with natural characters, there's a beetle on this one.
0:14:25 > 0:14:29'The ironwork which covers the north facade is overflowing with
0:14:29 > 0:14:33'classic examples of Mackintosh's signature motifs.'
0:14:33 > 0:14:38'I'm going to climb up this north front to see how the ironwork is not only beautiful
0:14:38 > 0:14:40'but also highly functional.'
0:14:40 > 0:14:43- OK, Luce.- Are we heading up?- Yeah!
0:14:43 > 0:14:47- Are you feeling artistic? - I never feel artistic!
0:14:47 > 0:14:49Maybe this building will inspire me.
0:14:49 > 0:14:53I always think when I'm tensioning the ropes like this,
0:14:53 > 0:14:57one false move and, twang, I'm over the other side.
0:14:57 > 0:14:59SHE LAUGHS Whoa!
0:14:59 > 0:15:02- There he goes! - HE LAUGHS
0:15:02 > 0:15:04I actually like this now.
0:15:04 > 0:15:09It used to scare the living bejinkers out of me, but I rather like it.
0:15:09 > 0:15:12You've made me dependent on adrenaline now, Luce.
0:15:12 > 0:15:17- SHE LAUGHS - Oh, no! There's no turning back! - You're a high-octane woman.
0:15:17 > 0:15:18SHE LAUGHS
0:15:18 > 0:15:23- Well, hello!- Mm. - Look at these creatures.
0:15:23 > 0:15:28Now, they're quite anatomically complete, those girls, aren't they?
0:15:28 > 0:15:32They are, yeah! Any idea what the symbolism is, what it means?
0:15:32 > 0:15:37Well, you see, Mackintosh was a man who saw in nature a life force.
0:15:37 > 0:15:41- And it's the feminine with the seed that gives the life.- I see.
0:15:41 > 0:15:46- And you see they're clutching roses? - Yeah.- Quite symbolic, the unfolding rose petals.
0:15:46 > 0:15:50It's almost like the muse of art is in nature, the inspiration, the seed,
0:15:50 > 0:15:53and there's this maternal character.
0:15:53 > 0:15:56- I like it.- A harbinger of inspiration. You like that? - Yeah, I do.
0:15:56 > 0:16:00I like the way that their hair flows and you can't tell where the sculpture ends
0:16:00 > 0:16:05and the architecture begins. It makes them integrated and essential, doesn't it?
0:16:05 > 0:16:09- Yeah.- OK, right, stage one of inspiration. Let's go up.
0:16:19 > 0:16:22Ian, I'm going to climb up on the window ledge,
0:16:22 > 0:16:24I want to show you these brackets.
0:16:24 > 0:16:29They're pretty much the biggest brackets I've ever seen, but also the most delicate.
0:16:31 > 0:16:33Now, these beauties
0:16:33 > 0:16:36march along the facade
0:16:36 > 0:16:39and in the early morning sun, when it catches it,
0:16:39 > 0:16:45they cast a long shadow, like maybe a gnomon or a spike on a sundial.
0:16:45 > 0:16:49But what they have within them, especially on that eastern end,
0:16:49 > 0:16:53is the idea of a seed wrapped up in the middle of some plant form.
0:16:53 > 0:16:59But they're not just decoration. What they do is provide these supports
0:16:59 > 0:17:02for a very practical reason. It's for people to clean the windows.
0:17:02 > 0:17:07And until the 1960s, they put wooden boards on there and then ladders
0:17:07 > 0:17:10and cleared the windows of this all-important northern facade
0:17:10 > 0:17:14so that pure light could flow down into the studios.
0:17:14 > 0:17:17Beautiful things with a practical purpose.
0:17:18 > 0:17:22'These iron railings which adorn the north facade were made by craftsmen
0:17:22 > 0:17:25'at a time when Glasgow's steel industry was booming.'
0:17:28 > 0:17:33'During the Victorian period, the city was home to some of the biggest shipyards in the world.
0:17:33 > 0:17:36'Many of the people who designed and built these ships
0:17:36 > 0:17:39'had studied industrial design at the School of Art.'
0:17:39 > 0:17:43'Even though the era of shipbuilding in Glasgow is now over,
0:17:43 > 0:17:49'the techniques of applied metalwork made by artisan blacksmiths are still used today.
0:17:50 > 0:17:53'I'm in a working forge to see how it's done.'
0:17:58 > 0:18:00We're off.
0:18:09 > 0:18:13We thin that down to create the basis of the shaft for the arrow.
0:18:17 > 0:18:20- OK, back in the fire? - Back in the fire.
0:18:22 > 0:18:27As an artist blacksmith, Pete's going through a variety of techniques
0:18:27 > 0:18:31including traditional coke firing and these pneumatic machines.
0:18:31 > 0:18:35Many of them date to within Mackintosh's own lifetime
0:18:35 > 0:18:38and they show how he straddled the Victorian traditional age
0:18:38 > 0:18:44with the dawn of Modernity and the mechanised processes that his building has on display.
0:18:49 > 0:18:50Wahey!
0:19:20 > 0:19:22Thank you.
0:19:22 > 0:19:26What a beautiful thing. It's a real privilege to see
0:19:26 > 0:19:30the power and the effort that goes into making something that's seemingly so delicate.
0:19:30 > 0:19:36It reminds you that, even though the School of Art is a very serene building,
0:19:36 > 0:19:40it took a great deal of talent and huge energy
0:19:40 > 0:19:43and no little cost to produce its refinements.
0:19:52 > 0:19:56'High above the lavishly-crafted wrought iron brackets
0:19:56 > 0:19:59'is an interesting addition to the north facade.'
0:20:03 > 0:20:09Now, at the top of that climb, I can see the roofscape.
0:20:09 > 0:20:12And here, ten years after building began,
0:20:12 > 0:20:16these studios were added. These will be 1907 to 1908.
0:20:16 > 0:20:20And what they do is add a whole new suite of spaces
0:20:20 > 0:20:24to take advantage of that pure northern light.
0:20:25 > 0:20:29They also give this place something of the feeling of a great ocean liner.
0:20:31 > 0:20:36'The attic studios were added with the west side ten years after building had started.'
0:20:38 > 0:20:42'This was the most productive period of Mackintosh's architectural career
0:20:42 > 0:20:46'and by 1909, he'd flourished into a mature, confident architect.'
0:20:46 > 0:20:49'The best place to see this development is here
0:20:49 > 0:20:55'in the most dramatic and innovative room in the Glasgow School of Art - the library.'
0:20:55 > 0:21:00'This is the chapel of Mackintosh's self-styled Scottish castle.'
0:21:00 > 0:21:03'The room has three floors, but only two are visible from within.'
0:21:03 > 0:21:06'The ground floor and the mezzanine.'
0:21:06 > 0:21:09This is the third space.
0:21:09 > 0:21:12This hidden floor served as the library store
0:21:12 > 0:21:15and it was lit by these internal windows.
0:21:18 > 0:21:21The library shows us to an extreme degree
0:21:21 > 0:21:23the contrasts that we have in this building,
0:21:23 > 0:21:26the contrast between the robust, the powerful,
0:21:26 > 0:21:29the sensitive, the delicate, it's all here in this building.
0:21:29 > 0:21:31We're sitting here in a timber building,
0:21:31 > 0:21:36but when you go outside, if you look at it from the street, it's not a timber building,
0:21:36 > 0:21:39it's a stone building, it's a very heavy, polished sandstone building
0:21:39 > 0:21:43like the other tenements you see on the grid in Glasgow.
0:21:43 > 0:21:46So how come we're sitting in a timber building here?
0:21:46 > 0:21:50Well, this timber building is actually suspended inside the stone building.
0:21:50 > 0:21:53So it's suspended inside it. So there are these contrasts.
0:21:53 > 0:21:56Is this is wooden building, is it a stone building?
0:21:56 > 0:22:00Is it a Glasgow tenement fitting the grid of the city
0:22:00 > 0:22:02or is it a castle?
0:22:02 > 0:22:06So all these contrasts absolutely come to bear in this very space here.
0:22:08 > 0:22:11'And what a fantastic space it is.
0:22:11 > 0:22:14'These contrasts come to life in the strong timber posts,
0:22:14 > 0:22:21'reminiscent of a grove of trees, signifying nature, a common theme in Mackintosh's designs.
0:22:21 > 0:22:27'Juxtaposing this are futuristic metallic lights suspended from the ceiling like miniature skyscrapers,
0:22:27 > 0:22:34'an ode to the industrial age. Also illuminating the library are these enormous three-storey windows
0:22:34 > 0:22:37'which flood the room with light.'
0:22:37 > 0:22:41- So what influence did the building have?- He was one of the pioneers of Modernism,
0:22:41 > 0:22:47so it had a great influence, certainly, from round about the 1920s, 1930s onwards.
0:22:47 > 0:22:51But it really came to the fore probably in the post-war period
0:22:51 > 0:22:55around the 1960s, 1970s, when people started to come back and look at Mackintosh.
0:22:55 > 0:22:59There was a rediscovery of the great architecture of Glasgow
0:22:59 > 0:23:02and of Mackintosh as the greatest of the great architects of Glasgow.
0:23:06 > 0:23:10'Mackintosh's influence on what would become Modernism
0:23:10 > 0:23:14'can be seen clearly on the windows of the west front.
0:23:14 > 0:23:20'Their simplicity, emphasis on function and their plain horizontal and vertical lines
0:23:20 > 0:23:23'anticipated what would happen in the 20th century.'
0:23:25 > 0:23:29- So, Lou, the west facade. - Yeah, here we are. Our final climb.
0:23:29 > 0:23:32- It's a bit busier than the east. - Mm.
0:23:32 > 0:23:35- It's ten years later, as well. He's had time to think about it.- OK.
0:23:35 > 0:23:40- I think we should expect the unexpected again. - Yeah, see what we find.
0:23:40 > 0:23:45- I'm intrigued. - I didn't expect this much stretch on the rope, I've got to tell you.
0:23:47 > 0:23:52'The soaring windows set the west front apart from the other facades,
0:23:52 > 0:23:55'and they're without doubt the most precious feature of this wall,
0:23:55 > 0:23:58'so we have to be extra careful not to damage them.'
0:23:58 > 0:24:02I'm just about to try and avoid these windows.
0:24:02 > 0:24:05One, two, three. Yep.
0:24:08 > 0:24:10HE LAUGHS Right in the middle.
0:24:10 > 0:24:13- SHE LAUGHS - Smash!- That's clever.
0:24:18 > 0:24:23Even though this facade is ten years later than the opposite one on the east side,
0:24:23 > 0:24:28it's still basically doing the same thing, it's providing an end wall to the studios.
0:24:28 > 0:24:32And the stone which closes off those studios is rough.
0:24:32 > 0:24:37The library, the place of contemplation and immersion in knowledge,
0:24:37 > 0:24:42is lined with much finer stone, smoothly finished, and with fine windows.
0:24:42 > 0:24:48There was a theory in the middle of the 19th century that architecture should externally express
0:24:48 > 0:24:52the interior functions of its spaces.
0:24:52 > 0:24:54And Mackintosh certainly took that to heart.
0:24:56 > 0:25:01'Mackintosh's bold columns project either side of the library windows.
0:25:01 > 0:25:05'You wouldn't think it to look at them, but they are in fact incomplete.'
0:25:06 > 0:25:10- Now, Lou, I've been looking forward to seeing these. - These big columns?- Yeah.
0:25:10 > 0:25:12- Yeah! They're a real feature from the ground.- Yeah.
0:25:12 > 0:25:16Mackintosh has some drawings and he shows figures, six of them,
0:25:16 > 0:25:18two to each window, you see? Three windows, two each,
0:25:18 > 0:25:22- maybe giving it this temple-like atmosphere of...- Yeah.
0:25:22 > 0:25:23Temple of the arts.
0:25:23 > 0:25:29- Fantastic. But I've got to say, I like them as they are.- Yeah, I do.
0:25:29 > 0:25:35They look incredibly fresh and original. An unformed masterpiece. In a way, more appropriate.
0:25:36 > 0:25:41'It's likely that the statues were never added because they were too expensive.'
0:25:42 > 0:25:46- Hey, we've got a great view into the library now.- Haven't we? Fantastic.
0:25:46 > 0:25:51- All the colours. - That little balcony with the red and blue and green?- Yeah.
0:25:51 > 0:25:54It is beautiful. One of the most famous rooms in Europe.
0:25:54 > 0:25:57- Not a normal perspective on it! - No!
0:25:57 > 0:26:01- These windows are absolutely massive, aren't they?- Aren't they?
0:26:01 > 0:26:06- I think we should have brought a bucket of soapy water, don't you? - They're not very clean.
0:26:06 > 0:26:10- But they are original and they're glorious.- Yeah.
0:26:16 > 0:26:20Standing on the stone columns and looking into the library storeroom,
0:26:20 > 0:26:26it's funny how Mackintosh's scale plays games with you
0:26:26 > 0:26:31because now it's like looking through maybe a 17th century window into a Cotswolds house or something.
0:26:31 > 0:26:33It all feels very domestic.
0:26:33 > 0:26:37And all we're going to do is swing five or six inches that way
0:26:37 > 0:26:40and the whole thing becomes more like the beginnings of a skyscraper.
0:26:55 > 0:27:01You'd have thought that once the School of Art was completed, admirers would have come flooding in
0:27:01 > 0:27:06and Mackintosh's order book for new buildings would have been full, but the reverse was the case.
0:27:06 > 0:27:08Hardly anyone took any notice of it
0:27:08 > 0:27:11and the architectural work all but dried up.
0:27:11 > 0:27:14World War I was just round the corner.
0:27:14 > 0:27:17Mackintosh took to painting instead.
0:27:19 > 0:27:24'The Glasgow School of Art was the last complete building that Mackintosh ever designed and built.
0:27:24 > 0:27:29'He died 20 years later without knowing how his work would go on
0:27:29 > 0:27:33to shape and inspire a new generation of Modernist architecture.'
0:27:38 > 0:27:41I can see why so many people are fond of this building.
0:27:41 > 0:27:44You can't help but form a relationship with it
0:27:44 > 0:27:48because whenever you ask it one question, it seems to ask you two or three back.
0:27:49 > 0:27:54One way that Mackintosh manages to do that is through using symbols in so many places,
0:27:54 > 0:28:00but architects through time have used symbols. The clever thing with him is how each time he does it,
0:28:00 > 0:28:04it says something, it underpins the use of the building.
0:28:04 > 0:28:08And 100 years on, it's still a fully-functioning school of art.
0:28:08 > 0:28:12I bet if he could see it today, he'd be proud of that.
0:28:44 > 0:28:46Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:28:46 > 0:28:48E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk