The Glasgow School of Art

Went on the tour of GSA with some cousins visiting from America — it was really informative and great to get a look inside such an iconic building. I’ve lived in Glasgow for years but never gotten round to visiting. Glad I did — the library was amazing, glad I saw it before it was tragically destroyed.
Only slight disappointment is that you don’t really get to see any of the current students’ studios or work, that’d be a nice touch.

The Glasgow School of Art is a must see if you’re visiting Glasgow and have an interest in art, architecture or the history of Glasgow.
Hopefully the Mackintosh building will soon be restored and reopened after last year’s fire and tours will again be available, it’s a really wonderful and unique building. The Mac houses lots of studios and is where a lot of the Fine Art students are based during their time at the school. The new Reid building across the road is also brilliant and I like it more each time I visit, it’s where you’ll find students from the Design faculty. There’s a gift shop and information centre about the history of the art school on the ground floor. You can also see some great exhibitions in the Reid gallery and take a minute to gaze up through the driven voids and watch the clouds drifting across the sky.
The degree show is held every year at the beginning of June and there are hundreds of pieces on display by students from all the departments. I’ve visited most years since 2001 and it can be many things including a bit overwhelming with so much to see but it’s never boring!
There’s also the Vic Bar and The Art School which function as the union for the GSofA and also has regular club nights and gigs so check the listings for them. I haven’t been for years but it was always a good place to stop by or end up on a night out. The last time I was there I unexpectedly ended up singing along with a drag queen, it’s that kind of joint.

I’ve come here for a couple of the exhibitions on and the one yesterday was really wonderful. It’s in connection with the other exhibitions on for Alasdair Gray but it had some really great prints by Aubrey Beardsley and Eric Gill which were captivating. The space is nicely laid out and they have a cute shop if that is of interest to you.

Amazing little details highlighted by the tour.

Rennie Mackintosh’s art has undergone a resurgence in popularity the last decade or two, and this building — designed in multiple stages by him for the GSA — is a practical extension of his art and design work. The building tour gives a top-​to-​bottom (with a lot of stairs) review of the building and its history. Our guide was a recent student who had her own engaging perspective on things and clear love for the place. It was a lot of fun, and an enjoyable hour; knowing the fee goes straight to the maintenance of the art school is helpful, as is the quite good gift shop the tour starts and ends at.
The one down side I’ll note is that photography inside the building is forbidden. Which is a darned shame, and a bit difficult to understand.
I can’t speak for the dance/​party/​clubbing aspect of the site (not what I was there for or when I was there), but it’s definitely worth a visit when in Glasgow if you’ve any interest in Mackintosh. Not spectacular, but solid.

A guided tour of the Glasgow Art School. well worth an hour of your time if you are interested in Charles Rene Mackintosh.
You have a tour of the school and see examples of Mackintosh’s work, and the school which was one of his first designs.

Great tour — thanks Georgia!
The school is an exquisite piece of art itself and the tour is Mackintosh central with a wide range of his work — including the building itself.
The tours are hourly, quick and fun. Be warned, there’s a fair amount of stairs involved.

Came here for the Macintosh tour. The tour guide [a university student] explains Macintosh’s art and thought form while taking you around the University building.

Nun war ich schon so oft hier und habe es nicht einmal geschafft, hinein zu gehen. Lag wohl an den Öffnungszeiten. Die passten einfach nicht zur Arbeitszeit. Muss noch optimiert werden.
Dafür lungerte ich schon den ein oder anderen Abend bei Nässe und Wind vor dem Gebäude herum, wurde bestimmt häufiger für unredlich befunden — doch ich fühlte mich immer wieder hingezogen zu Ästhetik der dieses Gebäudes. Ein Traum der noch heute mein Hals bis zum Herz schlagen lässt.
;-)

Only ever been here for gigs really, a few club nights as well.
It’s a great place.
It can be pricy at the bar on gig night, but there’s plenty of places nearby to kick off your night that are alot cheaper.
The building itself and the location are striking, with Mackintosh designs all over the place.
The patrons are predominantly alternative and the music reflects this. I am going here on Friday to see A Silver. Mt Zion and I cannot bloody wait!
A good music venue with decent club nights if you are into the alternative scene.

Back when I used to work nearby, I used to sit on the steps of the art school and hide, during lunchtime. It kept me away from the other staff, was quiet and secluded, and I could trace the architecture in my mind, wondering why The Mac had made it look so much like a castle. I went on the tour once– certainly, this is worth a tourist visit.
I used to go clubbing here, too: for a long time, it was the best club venue in Glasgow, at least for an eclectic and uptight soul like me. They had an early drum and bass night here, and Record Players is a great slice of fun– featuring provocatively cool posters. Then there was the hip-​hop night, where they had a proper DJ and everything.
Even better, it had the art school crowd, so the fashions made it feel that bit hipper. These days, I just go to the end of year exhibition. They have a big street party, which was fun until 2005, when I got old and thought it was far too busy. But the whole event is worth catching– for the art and entertainment.

I feel like a real git for saying this, given that this place has gained all positive reviews so far, but I wasn’t impressed at all with the Art School. It is one of these places that attracts a certain kind of crowd and if you aren’t really part of the same sort of subculture, it’s difficult to feel attached to it — I’m sure many people would feel this way about somewhere like the Cathouse for example. But it is also more than that.
First of all I like busy places, but I don’t like places that are so busy you can’t move at all, which is what the main downstairs bar is like here. Even during the winter when I was here, it was absolutely sweltering as well (air conditioning please!), so you can only imagine what it’s like in June or July.
Upstairs wasn’t much better — although it was quieter, the whole floor so horrendously sticky that if you stood still for more than a few seconds you had to peel your feet off the floor like they were fixed down with PVA glue.
I do like the fact that the Art School looks like an old flat inside, with its narrow hallway and staircase. But it is a bit too grubby, especially the toilets, which are a absolute disgrace. At least there is good drink promos though.
I did feel a bit out of place looking around at the tight jeans and frizzy hair on display, though I suppose this just shows how I was going in as someone who is a complete outsider and could perhaps therefore be seen as biased in my review. However I would like this review to serve as a guide to other outsiders, who are not part of the kind of clique that frequent the Art School.

The Glasgow School of Art is a gorgeous big building designed by Rennie Mackintosh and is world famous for producing some of the best artistic talent that Glasgow has to offer.
Most nights of the week, their student union plays host to some of the best DJs around, creating one of the best clubs in Glasgow.
My favourite night at the art school has to be Thursdays, where you can boogie downstairs on the tiled floor, under the disco ball, to the very best soundtrack of disco, electro, funk and house. Upstairs is very dark and atmospheric, with battered sofas all around and a massive wooden dance floor to enjoy some marvellously mixed hip hop, drum & bass and dubstep with some of the filthiest bass around.

Also bei mir ist der letzte Besuch schon ein paar Jährchen her, aber ich erinnere mich an die absolut coole Location immer wieder gerne. Klasse Musik, abgefahrene Leute und eine ewig lange Schlange für den Einlass vor der Tür. Hierhin habe ich auch meinen Deutschland-​Besuch immer mit geschleppt. Damals habe ich an der Glasgow University Film studiert

Having only been here on a Thursday and Friday night, I can’t really give you a rounded view, however, if these nights are anything to go on, you gotta love the Art School.
The venue itself is a grand old building, and the club nights are set out on two floors, (toilets are in the basement, folks). What you get is what you see — yes, it can be full of trendy people wearing ridiculous outfits, but somehow, you can only admire them.
Thursday’s are £1 pints of Tennents, and £1.50 vodka mix. Personally, I prefer the ground floor music to the upstairs hiphop-​type music — downstairs is more electro/​techno and altogether a bit more jazzy, yaaay!
The Friday I went on was a charity neon rave. Usual type of rave-​like music, and drinks started at £2. None the less, had a fantastic night.
Watch out though as it can get very very sweaty — don’t wear too many layers!

Glasgow school of art firstly starts with amazing architechture, but who’s looking at that? Inctead your mixing with the arty, hippy, indie, fashionistas that fill up the school of art night club. Random sofas scattered about the levels of floors, great random music from indie, electro to jazz to pop and good drink deals. Thursday nights are meant to be the best, haven’t visited any other nights but worth a visit if you like alternative music and people.

Record Playerz on a thursday night is always ace, as is Utter Gutter which is a quality alternative monthly night. Drink prices are pretty good too.

Really cool bar /​club but have to be student to get in most time being the school of art! On club nights however bring ID and should be cool. Good atmosphere, great tunes and cheap drinks. Great friendly place!

£1.50 a pint on thursdays also hosts gigs but the djs in here alone are worth going for. staff are friendly and the atmosphere is really chilled in here, can sometimes be a bit full of poser kinds but what do you expect when its the school of art. saw lauramarling here and it was really fun.

I visited here on a visit to the city. Look out for the Mackintosh designs if you are a fan of his work. This is a gorgeous building and great to see it is in use.

C’est l’école de Design et d’architecture de Glasgow, mais on peut aussi y faire une visite guidée à né pas manquer ! Un peut comme si vous visitiez l’Ecole Boulle à Paris, au milieu des étudiants.
L’architecture et le mobilier sont de Mackintosh et c’est un joyaux de l’architecture art nouveau à voir.
La bibliothèque de bois sombre est magnifique et j’ai personnellement un faible pour les lampes, l’horloge et l’enseigne de l’école qui sont des objets de design fabuleux.

Welche Qualität die Kunstschule hat, kann ich nicht beurteilen, die Qualität des Gebäudes ist außergewöhnlich. Hier wirkt der Jugendstil sehr modern, reduziert auf das Wesentliche.
Danach am besten die Queen’s Cross Church (
) besichtigen, Macintoshs Jugendstil-​Kirche.

this is a pure student hangout.
it has cheap drink
loads of different rooms playing excellent music.
has something for everyone and anything goes here

This is a really funky place, predominantly for students at the Art School Students. Really laid back with some great DJ’sOther students can sign you in but I am not sure that you can walk in from the street. This isn’t for everyone but if you like to a different night out then you will enjoy it here. Also really cheap booze, sometimes £1.50 a pint!!!