THE UNIVERSITY of EDINBURGH

DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2024/2025

Timetable information in the Course Catalogue may be subject to change.

University Homepage
DRPS Homepage
DRPS Search
DRPS Contact
DRPS : Course Catalogue : Edinburgh College of Art : Architecture - History

Undergraduate Course: CR Mackintosh: Architecture and Design in Edwardian Scotland (ARHI10041)

Course Outline
SchoolEdinburgh College of Art CollegeCollege of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryThe course will utilise visual analyses of designs and buildings, and primary documentary sources with a view to identifying the competing strands that contributed to Mackintosh's development and approach to architecture. Recent research has disclosed some unexpectedly traditional approaches in Mackintosh's work which will lead us to consider the role various historiographies, past and current, play on how we interpret his work and reputation. For example, it has been suggested that Mackintosh was a key contributor to the Viennese Secession, and that Margaret Macdonald was responsible for the radicalism of his art and design c.1900 but are these views the result of overzealous feminist critiques or a tendency to overrate Mackintosh's international reputation?
Course description This course will aim to place Mackintosh in the Scottish context examining the relationship between historicism, the Arts and Crafts movement and the Art Nouveau in his work. There were many interesting overlapping and competing strands in architecture in Scotland in this period: Mackintosh's own Glasgow contemporaries Gillespie and Salmond in Glasgow with sound city-based practices, Geddes and the Celtic Revival in Edinburgh, Lorimer very strongly impacting in Edinburgh and was the leading country house architect, but others such as Leiper designing for the wealthier bourgeoisie in the Borders and the west coast from Ayrshire to Argyll, and the more radical Weir Schulz for the Marquis of Bute at Mount Stuart. What is also striking in this period is the very high quality of design taking place beyond the major cities, for example, James MacLaren's work in Stirling.
Mackintosh did little outside Glasgow but more recent research discloses a wider set of involvements such as the somewhat unexpectedly restrained classicism (for an avant-garde architect) of his additions to Broughton House in 1907, and his attendance at meetings of Rowand Anderson's Scottish National Monuments Survey at the Edinburgh College of Art in 1913. So, to what extent was Mackintosh prepared to be pragmatic in order to stay in practice after the shock waves of reaction to the Glasgow School of Art died down?
The course will also examine Mackintosh's reputation. To what extent have the 1968 Mackintosh exhibition and Thomas Howarth's and Pevsner's ground breaking studies of Mackintosh as a Modernist created a reputation, and a set of expectations that overlook the more mundane aspects of his practice? In recent years there has been a tendency to suggest that Margaret Macdonald was responsible for the radicalism of his art and design c.1900 but is that sustainable from the evidence or could it be the result of overzealous feminist critiques?
The course will be delivered in illustrated lectures, and there will be at least one site visit.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites It is RECOMMENDED that students have passed ( Architectural History 1A: Introduction to World Architecture (ARHI08009) AND Architectural History 1B: Revivalism to Modernism (ARHI08004)) AND Urbanism and the City: Past to Present (ARHI08010)
Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements Students should normally have passed at least 60 credits of Architectural History or History of Art/History courses at Level 8. If the pre-requisites cannot be met, entry to this course can be negotiated in consultation with either the Course Organiser or Programme Director (Architectural History).
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesNone
High Demand Course? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2024/25, Available to all students (SV1) Quota:  20
Course Start Semester 2
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 200 ( Lecture Hours 33, Seminar/Tutorial Hours 10, Summative Assessment Hours 2, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 151 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 50 %, Coursework 50 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) Essay 50%, Exam 50%.
Feedback Students receive formative feedback on a 100- 300-word essay plan.
Exam Information
Exam Diet Paper Name Hours & Minutes
Main Exam Diet S2 (April/May)2:00
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Demonstrate knowledge of Scottish architecture and Mackintosh's c.1900.
  2. Demonstrate skills in critical thinking in regard to analysing textual documents and architectural drawings.
  3. Demonstrate verbal and writing skills for architectural description.
Reading List
Buchanan, William (1989) Mackintosh's masterwork : the Glasgow School of Art. Glasgow, Richard Drew
Crawford, Alan(c1995)Charles Rennie Mackintosh, London : Thames and Hudson
Howarth, Thomas (1977) Charles Rennie Macintosh and the Modern Movement, London, Routledge & Kegan Paul
Pevsner, Nikolaus (2011 rev. and extended ed.), Pioneers of modern design, from William Morris to Walter Gropius, Bath : Palazzo
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Not entered
Additional Class Delivery Information 2 x 2-hour lectures per week
KeywordsMackintosh,Scotland,architecture,Secession,Macdonald,Glasgow
Contacts
Course organiserMs Margaret Stewart
Tel: (0131 6)51 5788
Email: m.c.h.stewart@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMs Ellie Wallace
Tel: (0131 6)50 2309
Email: Ellie.Wallace@ed.ac.uk
Navigation
Help & Information
Home
Introduction
Glossary
Search DPTs and Courses
Regulations
Regulations
Degree Programmes
Introduction
Browse DPTs
Courses
Introduction
Humanities and Social Science
Science and Engineering
Medicine and Veterinary Medicine
Other Information
Combined Course Timetable
Prospectuses
Important Information