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Hillhouse. Architect: Charles Rennie Mackintosh, 1869-1928. 1903. Mackintosh designed the house for for Walter Blackie; it stands with panoramic views of the River Clyde in Helensburgh, Scotland, about 30 miles by road from Glasgow. The creation of a complete, entirely unique space, central to Mackintosh's architectural vision, defines Hill House. Mackintosh's façade carries on the tradition of brutal, strong, massive forms that echo the Scottish landscape and also the stone used in their construction. The exposed Cliffside upon which Hill House rests and the reference to Scottish baroque castles in the architecture calls to mind Swinburne's work "By the North Sea". A distinct mood is conveyed through the intensely weighted stone forms. The powerful force of nature, the sea and the weather and environment all had a strong impact on the faade of Mackintosh's Hill House. The small windows dotting the thick walls make obvious the need Mackintosh had for Hill House to withstand the test of weather and the passage of time.
Photograph © David P. Howard, originally posted to the Geograph website, and available on the Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0) licence. Text by Meaghan Kelly '05.5, English and History of Art 151, Brown University, 2004. Formatting by George P. Landow.
Bibliography
Moffat, Alistair, and Colin Baxter. Remembering Charles Rennie Mackintosh: An Illustrated Biography. Lanark: Colin Baxter Photography, 1989.
Billcliff, Roger. Charles Rennie Mackintosh: Complete Furniture, Furniture Designs and Interiors. 1986.
Created 2004;
last modified 24 October 2021