Though it has plenty of landmarks, the wide-open plaza of George Square is as close as Glasgow gets to having a focal point. Heavy traffic and the close railway station always give it a vibrant bustle, but it’s not really a place to linger, other than to soak up its self-confident Victorian architecture and trappings. The square’s centrepiece eighty-foot column...

In 1901 a German competition called on entrants to design a “House for an Art Lover… a grand house, thoroughly modern, fresh and innovative…” Premier Glasgow architect and designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh and his artist wife, Margaret Macdonald duly entered a detailed dossier – though late – which led to its disqualification. So their designs really just gathered dust until...