GM+AD

It has to be said that Glasgow has produced (yet again) an astonishingly good firm of architects in the form of GM+AD (Gordon Murray and Alan Dunlop).

GM+AD do not have a specific GM+AD-ness, they are not selling a specific style a la macintosh, or an architectural school or movement.  What actually happens is this:

The Most Important Building In Scotland

Architects tend to favour form over function because they know function changes over time. They know that a building’s occupants and owners will change, and over the years, the building will be inevitably adapted, decorated, used and even abused.

That a radical design will affect the locale, and influence (or at least inform) other architectural designs elsewhere, is quite a responsibility when you think about it — it is not just about the owners or users of the building, but the fact that it is seen by so many people in all weathers and in every season and that it takes on certain mythical traits. This sort of thing starts with the tradesmen who take ownership and possession of the building (“That’s one of my jobs”), and goes on through to the future historian who declares it’s significance.