Professor Andy MacMillan, one of Scotland's most important post-war architects, died suddenly this weekend during this year’s Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS) Andrew Doolan Awards visits. Macmillan was a professor at the Glasgow School of Art from 1973 to 1994, and a partner at Gillespie, Kidd & Coia in 1966. More on MacMillan's legacy after the break.
MacMillan's most significant built work was the St Peter's Seminary in Cardross, which he designed with Jack Coia and lifelong collaborator Isi Metzstein. The Seminary is an icon of Postwar Scottish Brutalism, and in 2005 was voted Scotland's best modern building. However, many believe his time as a professor at the Glasgow School of Art (also along with Metzstein) was an even greater contribution.
Speaking to BD, Clare Wright - a founder of Wright & Wright Architects and former student of MacMillan - said "he turned the Mac into a world-class school of architecture which taught how to 'draw' and how to build beautifully as well as the importance of the social values and symbolism of architecture."
"Andy’s contribution to Scotland was among the most significant of any architect in the post World War II era," said RIAS President Iain Connelly. "He will be remembered as someone who lived life to the full, who inspired all those he taught and all those who encountered him, as an individual of enormous talent, tremendous enthusiasm and irrepressible fun. Andy’s legacy is the hugely improved built environment of Scotland wrought by his own hand and those of successive generations of his students. He will forever be missed."
A statement from the Glasgow School of Art said MacMillan was "one of the greats of post-war British architecture," adding that "his legacy is visible not only in his buildings but in the lives and work of generations of architects whom he taught, challenged and enthused."
