Speculative Architecture

An architecture competition held last year by House for an Art Lover in partnership with Glasgow City Council Land Services asked fourteen entrants to come up with innovative designs to stimulate the public's interest in architecture, art and design. Of the fourteen, three designs have been chosen to begin the creation of an outdoor exhibition set in Bellahouston Park called ART PARK Glasgow. The book 'Speculative Architecture' came out in February to accompany the exhibition of the same name at the Lighthouse and contains the proposals of all the selected entrants. The three to be completed by 2008 include an entry called Glasshouse (a garden for a plant collector) made entirely of glass with under floor lighting meant to "glow mysteriously in the woods"; an entry called Maze (a modern labyrinth) influenced by 'Alice in Wonderland' and 'The Matrix'; and Glasgow Roots, including concrete cubes, some engraved with the names and dates of past achievements, and others mimicking the patterns of Glasgow's streets. The proposals in the book however are quite brief, with each only taking up one to two pages including large pictures. While the book has obviously been thoughtfully put together, it is probably of most interest to those people that attended the exhibition. [Kimberly Carpenter]