The new Reid building -Glasgow School of Art

Tonight BBC2 Scotland will be showing a documentary on the new Reid Building part of Glasgow School of Art.

As a graduate of GSA I shall watch it with particular interest.

Designed at a cost of £50 million by New York architects , Steven Holl Assoc., it has to both complement and make a statement against one of the great architectural masterpieces of the 20th century- the original Glasgow School of Art across the road.

Comparisons are inevitable.
As a piece of modern architecture it is stunning but does it work as an art college and anyway what are art colleges supposed to be like these days?

They have on one hand to provide facilities for teaching traditional skills like metal working, wood work and sculpture while at the same time provide a high tech environment for digital and video work.


Early days yet to say whether it is
able to deliver the kind of environment needed for the creative industries of the 21st century.
Let hope it does.

Did I like it? Yes but then I don’t have to work in it and I have heard mutterings of discontent about the high level of noise in the studios, and lack of privacy.

On the other hand this could only have been built in the 21st century using the latest digital technologies and new materials.

It speaks of our age whether we embrace it or not.