Glasgow: A Portrait

Glasgow has emerged into the 21st century as one of the world’s most dynamic and vibrant cities. Over the course of the last 20 years it has shed its reputation as a decaying, grey, post-industrial ‘no mean city’. But even when Glasgow was being shunned by tourists and travellers, it was being hailed by John Betjeman as ‘Britain’s finest Victorian City’; an accolade largely made valid by the legacy of the wealth of the 18th- and 19th-century city merchants who helped create its unique architectural style and structure. Adding to that the contributions of Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Alexander ‘Greek’ Thomson and it becomes clear as to why Glasgow is the city it is.
The status of Cultural Capital of Europe in 1990 – following on from Amsterdam, Athens, Berlin, Florence and Paris – gave the city its first major opportunity to reveal this style. By the end of the decade the accolade of UK City of Architecture and Design had also been added to ensure an increasingly enviable status throughout the world.
Roy Firth’s portrait of the city is one man’s view of the wealth of architecture, detail and sheer style that makes Glasgow and its surrounding area unique. Many visitors to the city may not have the time or the means to visit the places detailed here, but Glasgow: a portrait will remain a lasting souvenir of everything that is great about Glasgow.