High on Cathkin Braes, Rachel Loughran joins the walkers and cyclists who enjoy a panoramic view of Glasgow’s sprawling housing estates, high rise blocks, busy streets and green parks stretching below.
But there’s one particular building among all the others that tends to catch the eye.
It’s far from the city’s grandest. It’s not even particularly well loved.
Indeed, some view it as one of Glasgow’s worst carbuncles, spanning 14 storeys, with a wall of glass looming large over George Square and odd shapes protruding from the roof.
“For many people, it’s a bit of an eyesore because it’s very much ‘concrete with lots of windows’,” concedes Rachel.
“The concrete, the monumental scale and perceived ugliness of the Met Tower… people do have a kneejerk reaction to it.”
Love it or loathe it, they are now being encouraged to look at it from a fresh perspective: the Met Tower, with its hot pink People Make Glasgow façade, is among a select group of city buildings singled out in a new exhibition which aims to challenge attitudes to the city’s Brutalist buildings.
Curated by digital design specialist Rachel, Brutal Glasgow has been inspired by the work of Glasgow-based artist Natalie Tweedie, aka Nebo Peklo, whose illustrations of some of the city’s modernist buildings show them in stark isolation from neighbouring buildings.
With no Victorian grandeur or street furniture to detract from their clean lines, their simple beauty emerges: the patterns created by walls of windows, geometric shapes, stark symmetry and thoughtful details, all become more obvious.
Buildings which may seem ‘brutal’ at ground level, often emerge far more beautiful.
Alongside her drawings, the Glasgow City Heritage Trust exhibition will include commentary from leading architects and academics explaining the reasoning behind the sometimes hard to love brutalist designs.
Bringing the buildings' stories to life will be first-hand stories from people who lived, worked, visited and in some cases partied and played within their walls.
Often, says curator Rachel, while the Brutalist buildings’ bulk and harsh lines can be intensely disliked by some, many for whom the buildings were part of everyday life tend to speak of them with deep affection.
“Their memories and experiences bring the buildings to life,” she adds.
“There is more to a building than its material. It’s more than concrete, it’s the stories that are within it too.
“Hopefully this exhibition will encourage people to look at the built environment with a new understanding and new interest.”
The Brutalist architectural style emerged from the mid-20th century as cities emerged from the Second World War and looked towards a brighter future.
With building materials in short supply and the frills and ornate details of Victorian buildings out of fashion, attention focused on functional buildings to better meet occupants needs.
During an intense period of change, city centre buildings were torn down, among them some which told their own story of Glasgow’s social history, such as the Savoy Music Hall in Renfrew Street.
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Having opened in 1911 to entertain the citizens with music and dance, it was quickly overtaken by the craze for film. The stage was ripped out, a screen put in and it became the New Savoy Picture House.
By the late 1950s, it had become the Majestic Ballroom.
The move to modernise the city in the mid-1970s saw the area become the two-storey Savoy Centre, complete with ugly concrete walkway and flat grey box structure.
Possibly a challenge to love, Rachel says the voices of market traders, shoppers and visitors as they share their memories bring a different perspective to its harsh lines.
Brutalist buildings like the Savoy Centre – often with unusual boxy features, suspended walkways, exposed bright concrete and rough textures - were in stark contrast to their elegant, if soot-stained and dated Georgian and Victorian neighbours.
While for the families crammed in the crowded city centre’s dilapidated tenements, the era brought demolition of their homes and displacement to Brutalist tower blocks.
Intended to provide clean, airy living, it sometimes brought its own issues as communities were torn apart and the high-rise living turned out to be blustery, with few amenities and anti-social behaviour.
Among the buildings featured in the exhibition are the now demolished 31-storey Gallowgate Towers, twin high-rise blocks which rose over the East End.
Built in 1968 – and demolished in 2016 - they helped stake the city’s claim as a modern, high-rise and futuristic city.
Also singled out is Anniesland Court at 833-861 Crow Road.
Designed by architecture firm John Holmes and Partner, the 22-storey tower came with the disadvantage that its lifts only have seven stops.
While Glasgow’s dash to modernise and embrace Brutalist style was pioneering, there were mistakes made, says Niall Murphy, director of Glasgow City Heritage Trust.
Some high rise flats - such as Sir Basil Spence’s Gorbals towers - became notorious for dampness and poor amenities, there was the jarring effect of modern concrete buildings alongside the refined elegance of Georgian and Victorian gems.
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“There was a feeling cities were too overcrowded, they needed light and air,” adds Niall. “But at the same time, the movement didn’t necessarily understand what a traditional city was about.
“The modernist movement in architecture was very much concerned about the building, its objective and space, rather than building being part of a great ensemble.
“Glasgow was a pioneer, but it learned quickly that you can’t build in isolation."
The brutal lines of the 1970s Bourdon Building, named after Glasgow School of Art’s first professor of architectural design, Eugene Bourdon, illustrates the point: it could scarcely have been more at odds with the Charles Rennie Mackintosh art school gem close by.
“It’s had a lot of flack over the years in terms of it being a bit of a concrete monstrosity,” says Rachel.
“But it is fascinating; it was built with function in mind, designed to allow huge space on its floors for collaborative projects. That is part of the design principle of modernist buildings - that form and function play together in close harmony.”
Had Glasgow Corporation’s original plans for the city come to pass, it would have not had to compete with its art school neighbour.
For 'the Mack' along with other architectural treasures including Glasgow City Chambers, Central Station and Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum were at one point at risk of being swept away, replaced by modern alternatives.
The Bruce Report of 1945, developed by Robert Bruce, Glasgow Corporation Engineer at the time, suggested demolition on a huge scale to clear swathes of the city.
It led to work on the M8 motorway – the UK’s first urban motorway – and paved the way for many of the city’s Brutalist buildings, among them the high-rise Stow College of Building, now the Met Building.
Unveiled in 1964 and now category B-Listed, it was one of the first of its kind in the city.
Glasgow in those days would have felt a long way from the sun-kissed French Riviera. However, it’s where the Met Tower - a glowing symbol of the city’s new chapter - had its roots.
“It’s such an optimistic building of its time,” adds Niall.
“Glasgow was this heavy Victorian cityscape with very dark buildings, and suddenly this completely glass building with marble on the sides appeared.
“It was completely different to the rest of the city - a real shock and a vision of the future.”
Designed by Glasgow architect Peter Williams, its skyline profile was influenced by Swiss-French architect, Le Corbusier’s La Cité Radieuse block in Marseille, with ‘quirky’ roof structures built of exposed concrete.
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“Unlike modern tall buildings that just come to stop, it does something quite different,” Niall adds.
“One structure, a ventilation shaft, is like a funnel on a liner. Another shaped like an arch was a television studio. There are little buildings up there that are quirky and interesting.
“Some hate it, but some think it’s the epitome of cool.”
The exhibition, at the Trust’s Bell Street base, also focuses on Our Lady and St. Francis Secondary School for Girls in Charlotte Street, designed by Gillespie, Kidd & Coia, which opened in 1964, and Sir Basil Spence’s Pontecorvo Building in Dumbarton Road.
Both have been demolished.
One which remains, the BOAC building in Buchanan Street, is among the Brutalist designs which take on a new perspective in Natalie’s work.
“When I first came into contact with Natalie’s work last year, I thought ‘hang on, I’ve walked past that building, where is it?,” says Rachel.
“It sits on the corner of Mitchell Lane and Buchanan Street very snugly. It’s clad in copper, and has the concrete you associate with Brutalist buildings.
"It has a futuristic look, but fits beautifully and complements the Victorian architecture.”
Natalie, whose drawings often feature on her social media channels, hopes the exhibition will bring new depth to understanding Brutalism in Glasgow.
“Through my work, I aim to create a sense of connection for people -whether it’s the street they grew up on or the building where they celebrated significant moments.
“I want to bring beauty to buildings which some people would consider ugly,” she says.
Brutal Glasgow comes at a time when a worrying number of city buildings face an uncertain future. Plans to redevelop the Met Tower by Bruntwood SciTech, a property company focused on the science and technology sector, were shelved in May as costs escalated.
Others, however, having fallen out of fashion, are being admired again.
Historic Environment Scotland is considering listing the red-brick modern housing blocks near Braid Square, St George’s Road and North Woodside Road.
Designed and built in the early 1970s, the medium-rise mass housing scheme was designed with warm red bricks, bay windows and curved lines which soften its Brutalist style.
Niall says while Brutalist buildings are ‘Marmite’, they represent a specific point in time.
“They were a moment in history and represent an optimism; people thought this was what the future was going to be.
“They are a hard sell and they’re not everyone’s cup of tea, but some people are passionate about them.”
Brutal Glasgow is on at Glasgow City Heritage Trust, 54 Bell Street, Glasgow from Monday, September 16. For details of opening times visit https://www.glasgowheritage.org.uk/exhibition-brutal-glasgow/
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