The origins
Between the megalithic stone giants and the first traces of sedentary habitat, the Neolithic remains will take you back in time. In the Orkney Islands, don't miss the site of Maeshowe with its burial chamber with corridor and corbelled vault; the Stennes Stones, one of the oldest henge or circle of standing stones in the British Isles; the Brodgar Cromlech, a vast ring 103 m in diameter, where 27 of the 60 original standing stones can still be seen; and, of course, the site of Skara Brae, with its semi-buried houses with astonishing stone furniture. During the Bronze Age, Scotland saw a proliferation of cairns, fortified hills - as at Eildon Hill in the Scottish Borders - and crannogs. The latter are artificial islands or wooden platforms built on a base of oak stakes arranged in a circle and joined by a system of wattle and daub, the whole being then fortified by the addition of stone, peat and wood. In the center of the platform is a wooden dwelling with a stone fireplace. A very nice reconstruction can be seen at the Scottish Crannog Centre on Loch Tray. In the Iron Age, the habitat becomes even more complex with the appearance of the Atlantic Roundhouses which group together different types of stone dwellings: brochs - such as the Broch of Musa in Shetland -, tall stone structures with double thickness walls housing small cells and spiral staircases providing access to the different levels; duns designating stone bastions or rotundas that can be seen in numbers south of the Firth of Clyde and the Firth of Forth; and wheelhouses or roundhouses whose outer wall was lined with stone pillars supporting a corbelled, conical roof shape. From ancient Roman Caledonia, we have the remains of the famous castrum, whose structures reveal a great mastery of the earth worked into ditches and defensive enclosures and of the wood used for the construction of forts. The series of fortifications at Gask Ridge is believed to be the first fortified land frontier in the Roman Empire. It was followed by Antonine's Wall revealing ingenious peat structures. Despite their reputation, the Vikings left no defensive or military remains, but valuable evidence of their daily habitat. Their longhouses are large, oblong farmhouses with curved walls that resemble the silhouette of an overturned drakkar. The building materials are stone, wood and peat, the floor often being made of floating wood parquet to avoid humidity. The houses could be single-storey or semi-buried. The most beautiful examples are to be seen in Shetland, on the sites of Hamar, Underhoull and Belmont.
The shielings, or summer pastures, with stone walls and thatched roofs; the black-houses or longhouses with thick dry-stone walls and thatched roofs rounded to resist the wind; the cleits or dry-stone huts of St. Kilda Island; or the cottages and chalets of the Highlands, symbols of vernacular architecture, are the heirs of this architectural history.
Medieval effervescence
Medieval architecture is inseparable from the building fever of the powerful Normans, famous for their castles. Initially simple wooden towers erected on tumuli, then called mottes castrales, castles will then develop around these original towers and be transformed into impregnable buildings protected by powerful surrounding walls and defensive towers with crenellated silhouettes. Among the oldest castles in Scotland are:Edinburgh Castle,Dunnottar Castle, Kildrummy Castle andTantallon Castle. Along the Scottish Borders you can also see Bastle Houses or fortified farmhouses that can be recognized by their thick walls and small slit openings. Peel Towers or small fortified keeps, such as Stalker Castle on the island of Loch Laich, complete the picture. The Middle Ages also marked the birth of the first villages or burghs. Linked to a castle and most often protected by a palisade, these villages have two key features: the Mercat Cross or Market Cross which, perched on a stone platform, is located at the junction of the main streets of the village; and the Tollbooth. The historic cores of Scotland's cities also reveal a pattern of winding streets and narrow courtyards leading off the main thoroughfare, lined with modest thatched houses next to the early middle-class stone and slate houses. In Edinburgh, High Street also saw the appearance of the country's first skyscrapers: the Lands, dwellings that could reach 7 floors. The Middle Ages were also marked by a religious effervescence, fueled by the strong presence of monastic orders. The churches of Leuchars and Dalmeny are without doubt the most beautiful representatives of the Norman Romanesque style with massive proportions. Some churches even have round towers, impressive structures made of rough rubble and then of cut stone, serving as both watchtowers and bell towers. Among the most famous examples, let us note the cathedral of Dunblane and its square towers, and the tower of Saint-Regulus in Saint-Andrews. But the Norman Romanesque can also be more decorative with the development of geometrical patterns dressing the structure, as in the magnificentcathedral of St. Magnus in Kirkwall, nicknamed "Light of the North", whose polychrome facade can be admired with the alternating checkerboard of red and yellow sandstone. Then, gradually, the Romanesque style will give way to the Gothic style with its vaulted ceilings allowing more height and lightness, as in the cathedral of Elgin and in the cathedral of Saint-Mungo in Glasgow. Don't miss the ruins of the great abbeys which present a beautiful mix of Romanesque and Gothic elements, like Melrose Abbey and Kelso Abbey. Castles also evolved, or rather adapted to the development of artillery, which required a modification of the fortifications. The massive Norman castles gradually gave way to fortresses, known as Italianate, generally following a polygonal plan and equipped with bastions. Do not miss the fortifications of Ayr, Perth and Leith or the castles of Craignethan and Rothesay.
Classic elegance
The 16th century was a golden age for castles, which were transformed into true royal palaces, elegantly blending Gothic and defensive attributes with Renaissance harmony. This is particularly true of Stirling Castle, one of the largest in Scotland, whose Great Hall with its superb corbelled windows and royal chapel are a must-see. The 17th century was the triumph of classical lines and of the architect William Bruce who introduced the harmony and proportions of Palladianism to Scotland. Master of works for the crown of Scotland, Bruce worked on the restoration of many royal residences, such as thePalace of Holyrood. He also participated in the construction of many large country houses that are recognizable by their superb gardens and Italianate terraces. Thirlestane Castle is a good example. He also started the work on Hopetoun House, but the Palladian elements of the latter were soon embellished with astonishing baroque and neoclassical elements that we owe to the Adam family, famous for mixing Etruscan, Byzantine or baroque influences with the most classical lines. In Edinburgh, Robert Adam was responsible for the General Register House and the great building of the University, and John Adam for the Royal Exchange. The 18th century was also a time of urban renewal. James Craig designed a new extension for Edinburgh. The New Town followed a geometric and symmetrical plan where wide avenues, including the famous Prince Street, intersected at right angles, creating rectangles and squares that housed residential blocks, green spaces and large squares, including the beautiful Charlotte Square, the work of the same Robert Adam. The main streets are lined with neoclassical buildings symbolizing prosperity with their columns, domes and pediments. Edinburgh has served as an example for the renovation of many other cities such as Inveraray and its castle, both designed by... the Adam family!
Industrial Revolution
From the end of the 18th century, the industrial prosperity of Scotland was accompanied by the creation of new towns combining industry and urbanism. The best example is New Lanark. Witness to a true utopian socialism, the city had succeeded in combining economic prosperity and improved living conditions for workers through individual houses with gardens and community spaces in a clean and healthy environment. In terms of style, this era of economic prosperity was accompanied by an eclecticism typical of the Victorian period. Between romanticism, the development of archaeology and the rediscovery of Scottish myths and legends, a wide variety of styles flourished. The follies or garden factories are the great representatives. Alternating between temples and classical colonnades, Chinese pagodas and Egyptian pyramids, dolmens and caves, and thatched cottages and stone huts, these small ornamental structures make a big impact! The most popular style at the time was neo-Gothic, which was then renamed Scottish Baronial Style. The new houses had many lancet-shaped windows, crenellated towers and gables and porches with heraldic motifs. The most famous house in this style is Abbotsford House, built for the no less famous Walter Scott. The Scott Monument in Prince Street Gardens and the William Wallace Monument in Stirling, huge towers dominating the landscape, are also very representative of this Gothic revival. And let's not forgetBalmoral Castle , whose grey sandstone silhouette is a mixture of a Germanic castle and a Scottish fortress entirely imagined by Queen Victoria. It was also the time of the first great museums, such as the Scottish National Portrait Gallery whose structure was inspired by the Doge's Palace in Venice! With their imposing red brick silhouettes, the factories and breweries of the time were the great castles of industry, like the Caledonian Brewery in Edinburgh, whose imposing chimney cannot be missed. Faced with this omnipresent neo-Gothic style, some people chose to return to classical lines. This was the case of William Henry Playfair, who designed the Scottish National Gallery, the Royal Scottish Academy and, above all, the Scottish National Monument, a copy of the Parthenon, which earned the city the nickname "Athens of the North". The 19th century was also the century of engineers, starting with Thomas Telford, who designed the Dean Bridge in Edinburgh, or the Craigellachie Bridge, an astonishing single-span cast iron structure protected by two neo-Gothic towers at its ends. But the most famous of Scotland's bridges is undoubtedly the Forth Bridge, an assembly of two cantilever bridges, supported by three powerful towers. Warehouses and shops also play with the possibilities of cast iron, wrought iron and glass in structures mixing industrial prowess and decorative richness, as do the railway stations, Wemyss Bay Railway Station in the lead.
Contemporary Scotland
The beginning of the 20th century was marked by the personality of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, an architect and designer of genius, who brought together innovation and tradition in his Arts and Crafts and Art Nouveau creations that sublimated Glasgow. His most famous building is the School of Fine Arts. At first glance, it seems extremely sober and rational, but gradually, it reveals details made of curves and corbelling of great finesse. Today, the school is being restored, as is the very famous Hill House, which was entirely designed to adapt to the daily life of its inhabitants and is now protected from the elements by an astonishing custom-made shelter. Among the master's most famous creations, don't miss the Willow Tea Rooms and their furniture designed by Mackintosh, the House for an Art Lover and its windows, each with a unique design, or the Lighthouse, transformed into a center for Design and Architecture. After the First World War, modernism appeared in the form of the creations of Thomas S. Tait, famous for his Empire Tower in Glasgow, an imposing 91m structure with Art Deco geometric lines. He is also responsible for St Andrew's House in Edinburgh, whose rich Art Deco carved decorations can be seen. After World War II, new neighborhoods were built on the green belts surrounding the cities and new towns were imagined based on a sense of community. However, these projects gave pride of place to Brutalism and its imposing concrete structures, such as Tower Blocks, which were soon to be decried. The new town of Cumbernauld was even nicknamed the "Lego City"! Faced with this soulless modernism, the 1980s saw the development of a post-modernism very well represented by the Burrell Collection building in Glasgow, designed by Barry Gasson, who took care to integrate ancient elements (Romanesque portal, Renaissance arches...). A very personal vision that can be found in the great contemporary creations of which Norman Foster kicked off with the Clyde Auditorium in Glasgow, whose curved and segmented structure is reminiscent of the shell of a tattoo! In 2001, the city acquired the Glasgow Tower, one of the largest rotating structures in the world. In 2004, Enric Miralles designed the new Scottish Parliament building in Edinburgh, while in 2011, Zaha Hadid designed the Riverside Museum in Glasgow, whose shape evokes that of a wave. Today's architects and designers follow in this long line of creators, with their refined creations, making the most of natural and local materials. Tradition always!
