A huge thank you to everyone who took part in the Brutal Glasgow Trail! We were overwhelmed by the response and, more than anything, delighted to see the different ways you chose to explore Glasgow’s architecture.
In just over three weeks, we distributed 1,750 booklets and 200 pin badges, while a reel about the trail went viral, attracting more than half a million views and counting across Facebook and Instagram.
But the numbers only tell part of the story.
You walked it, ran it and cycled it. You travelled by Voi bike, train and bus. You completed it solo, in pairs and in groups, and some of you even met fellow trail-goers along the way and became pals! People of all ages and backgrounds joined in, each bringing their own interests and approach.
There were birthday celebrations, days out with friends and family, and well-earned pints at St Luke’s to mark the finish. Some of you made the trail part of a wider day of exploring, taking in our From Well to Wellspring exhibition or stopping for a photobooth portrait. The vintage analogue Photoautomat at Street Level Photoworks, in Trongate 103, brought a little bit of Berlin to the route for some, while the photobooth at Princes Square offered another opportunity to capture the day alongside a visit to the BOAC print.
There was plenty of creativity too. Many of you stopped to sketch the buildings and artworks, including first-year Architectural Design students from City of Glasgow College, who tackled the trail on their very first day.
Photographers brought everything from phone cameras and professional kit to a vintage pinhole camera and even a Game Boy Camera.
And then there were the stamps. One of the loveliest surprises was just how much enjoyment people found in collecting them. In a digital age, there was something wonderfully satisfying about pressing a stamp onto paper, watching the booklet fill up and having a physical record of the journey.
We created the Brutal Glasgow Trail hoping you would explore, look up, discover something new about the city’s architecture and perhaps scan a few QR codes along the way. What we hadn’t quite anticipated was how it would become a backdrop for so many other things: new friendships, creative experiments, celebrations and shared discoveries.
Thank you for walking, running, cycling, sketching, photographing, exploring, sharing, laughing and making the Brutal Glasgow Trail your own.
Keep exploring
If the trail has sparked an interest in Brutalism or Glasgow’s wider twentieth-century architecture, there is plenty more to discover. Whether you want another route to follow, something to read or a society to join, here are a few places to start.
The Modernist
A Manchester-based, not-for-profit social enterprise celebrating twentieth-century art and design through its magazine, publications, bookshop, gallery and events. For more exploring closer to home, the free Modernist app includes four tours of twentieth-century Glasgow, grant-aided by Glasgow City Heritage Trust, and is available for Apple and Android devices.
Docomomo Scotland
The Scottish chapter of Docomomo International campaigns for the documentation and conservation of buildings, sites and neighbourhoods of the Modern Movement. Its talks, tours and other events offer opportunities to learn more about Scotland’s twentieth-century built heritage.
The Twentieth Century Society
Campaigning to protect outstanding modern architecture, the Society offers a wealth of resources, including building profiles, conservation news, publications, talks and tours. A useful starting point for anyone interested in the buildings of the recent past and their future.
Brutalist Glasgow, by Neil Scott
Writing in The Crop, Neil Scott takes readers on a photographic exploration of Glasgow’s Brutalist architecture. An accompanying Google Maps walking tour offers another way to get out and investigate the buildings for yourself.
Follow along on Instagram
- @glasgowmodernist – The Glasgow chapter of the Modernist, sharing local architecture, design and events.
- @brutalbasil – Modernist and Brutalist architecture in Scotland and beyond.
- @malcolm.in.the.midcentury – An interest in mid-century architecture and design, shared through photographs and observations.