A Thing of Beauty is a Joy for Ever

Yesterday we visited a highly inspiring place - outside and inside - in the City of Glasgow. The Lighthouse is Scotland's Centre for Design and Architecture. The Herald Building which now houses the Centre was the first public commission of the famous architect, designer and artist Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

Primarilly it was an exhibition called Kitchenism that made me wanting to visit the Lighthouse. Kitchenism is about the relationships between holistic design, therapeutic spaces and well-being. Maggie Keswick Jencks and her husband Charles developed the idea of "kitchenism", in which the kitchen functions as a social hub, as a key element of the Maggie's Centre experience. The Exhibition features a collection of innovative furniture prototypes designed and crafted in Edinburgh.

We got to know about this fascinating couple from Jan Hogarth an enviromental artist from Dumfries, which we have met in September and have become friends with. Jan gave us a book called Cosmic Speculation as a present which tells the fascinating story of Maggie and Charles which have designed their big garden inspired by modern cosmology into a sculpture garden.
​Charles Jencks a landscape architect and theorist is continuing the project since his beloved wife Maggie died of cancer. In the last month of her life Maggie came up with the idea of the Maggie's Centre, which is another inspiring story of these two highly gifted and engaged people.

After the Kitchenism exhibition we digged deeper into Mackintoshs time and work, which was very exciting as I was interested in Art Noveau ever since I was a child. A magical experience was the so called Mackintosh Tower a former water tank and dovecote in which artist Kathy Hinde shows her installation work Luminous Birds - a sound and sight spectacular with a flock of animated origami birds awaiting you at the top of the stairs.

The Lighthouse has many fascinating aspects, beginning with the great historical building itself, the interesting exhibitions and last but not least the interior design, combining the precious old with the exciting new, like the illuminated moving stairs for example. The Lighthouse does not only show Charles Rennie Mackintoshs work but hosts changing exhibitions and rents some co-working spaces too. Worthwhile not only one but some visits!

Impressions

links
explore the variety and beauty of The Lighthouse including the exhibition about Kitchenism | learn about the genius of Charles Rennie Mackintosh and see some of his famous works | the Luminous Birds fly in different locations | "A thing of beauty is joy for ever" is a quote from John Keats. read the poem
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