11-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Glasgow Times
New app to help people explore Glasgow's architecture
The Modernist Society is expanding its free app to include the city after a successful launch in Manchester last year.
Glasgow is the second city to receive a set of curated tours, which will explore 20th-century landmarks across the city centre and West End.
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From June 6, four tours will be introduced, inviting users to explore Glasgow's modernist and brutalist architectural heritage.
Each tour is designed to last around 90 minutes and is completely free.
The app, which first launched in 2024, will have its expansion revealed as part of the Architecture Fringe festival 2025 at the Glasgow City Heritage Trust.
The four tours feature written explainers on interactive maps, curated by the Modernist Society founders.
They feature a range of modernist landmarks, from the Art Deco Beresford Building on Sauchiehall Street, the brutalist concrete murals of Charing Cross Station, and the neon stars of the Barrowland Ballroom.
The addition of the Glasgow tours has been made possible by a grant from the Glasgow City Heritage Trust.
The Modernist Society's co-founders, Jack Hale and Eddy Rhead, expressed their gratitude to the trust for its support.
Eddy said: "We were used to running a lot of walking tours in and around Manchester and they always proved to be really popular, but due to constraints like man-hours, resources, and simply time, we wanted to be able to reach more people quickly.
"That's why expanding the app felt like a natural step after seeing how well its launch was received last year.
"If you're from Glasgow or live here, you will recognise a lot of the buildings on the tour, but you won't necessarily know the stories behind them.
"The amount of care and thought that went into some of these buildings is phenomenal and a testament to their architects.
"We want to encourage people to walk around the city and look at things a little differently.
"You never know – maybe we can even help a few people to like modernist architecture a bit more than they did before?"
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Niall Murphy, director of the Glasgow City Heritage Trust, said: "As Glasgow celebrates its 850th anniversary, it's more important than ever to invest in our city's heritage - both in the buildings that shape our streets and the stories that define our communities.
"These grants will not only help protect Glasgow's rich architectural legacy but also ensure that more people can engage with and appreciate our shared history.
"From major conservation projects to innovative outreach initiatives, we're proud to support work that keeps Glasgow's heritage alive for future generations."
