General view from West. Digital image of B 18626.

Description General view from West. Digital image of B 18626.

Date 28/9/1989

Catalogue Number SC 721084

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of B 18626

Scope and Content Glasgow University Library and the Hunterian Gallery from the west, University of Glasgow, University Avenue, Glasgow Glasgow University Library was designed in 1961 and built 1965-81. The adjacent Hunterian Art Gallery was built 1971-81. Both buildings were designed by architect William Whitfield, and feature towering elements of hammer-dressed concrete and glass. The main tower of the library gained an extra glazed storey c.1992. This shows the library with its hammer-dressed concrete walls forming a series of angular blocks of varying heights. These walls, with their strong vertical markings, contrast with the rising cobbled area below, which creates the effect of a fortress rising from a defensive mound. These two buildings are designed to be seen together, the lower buildings of the gallery forming a base from which the tower of the library rises. The buildings were constructed to create a new focal point for the university whilst respecting the scale of the existing university buildings designed in 1865 by Sir George Gilbert Scott (1811-78). This building has been selected as one of Scotland's key 20th-century Modern architectural monuments. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/721084

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap