The Big Mack Build

The Glasgow Institute of Architects, in collaboration with Glasgow Life, Glasgow Doors Open Day and Mackintosh at the Willow, hosted an exciting live-build competition during the Glasgow Doors Open Day weekend to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

Taking place from Friday 14th to Sunday 16th of September, the competition saw the Billiard Room at ‘Mackintosh at the Willow’ on Sauchiehall Street inhabited and transformed by an installation built entirely from cardboard, which will enhance the Mackintosh-designed space.

The Winning Entries

First Place - 'Paper Prospects' by Alastair Reid

Second Place - 'Weightless Pattern' by Ross Cameron & Titas Grikevicius

Third Place - 'Hope in Honest Error' by Dan Brown

After much deliberation the entry titled ‘Paper Prospects’ by Alastair Reid was chosen by the judges to be the winner and the recipient of a £1000.00 prize.

The judges’ commented that

“The proposal has a strong concept, connecting CRM’s watercolours and silhouettes of the building - making for a thought-provoking piece which explores the relationship between his art and architecture, with the proportions of the piece also and reflecting the original billiard table. A good, fun and accessible piece of work that takes various paintings and buildings out of their contexts and relates them to each other.”

A submission titled ‘Weightless Patters’ by Ross Cameron & Titas Grikevicius was chosen by the judging panel as the second-placed entry, with ‘Hope in Honest Error’ by Dan Brown coming third. Alastair Reid’s winning entry will now be built at Mackintosh at the Willow and the installation will be accessible for viewing by the public during the Glasgow Doors Open Day weekend from 14th - 16th September.

Entrants are asked to propose an installation designed from cardboard, which will inhabit and enhance the architectural quality of the Mackintosh-designed interior and compliment the space. Entrants were asked to consider the history of the room and the Architect behind its design and reflect on how they intend their piece to inhabit the space: will it be located centrally to take the place of the billiard table, or will it be located on the periphery of the space to draw attention to what has been removed? Will your entry celebrate Mackintosh by creating something in his style, or will it be in contrast to the space so as to draw attention to it?

GIA President Isabel Garriga commented:

“This is a very special year for the GIA, It has been 150 years since we were established but it is also 150 years since Charles Rennie Mackintosh was born, after all the bad news this year, it is always exciting to see how Mackintosh can still inspire a whole new generation, this is highlighted by the quality of all the competition entries, all of them truly fantastic and in particular the winner and the 2 shortlisted entries. I cannot wait to see Alastair Reid’s “Paper Prospects” cardboard extravaganza at Mackintosh at the Willow in mid-September.” 

Isabel Garriga – GIA President