Development, design and delivery of new museums in Scotland, 1967-2001

Abstract

This research examines the commissioning of new museum buildings during the late twentieth century in Scotland. This thesis analyses three case study buildings dating from the 1970s until the early 2000s, with a focus on both the architectural design and institutional development of these projects.

The starting point for this research was an investigation into new cultural architecture in the late twentieth and early twenty first centuries in Scotland. Museum projects were chosen as a focus, partly because they were lauded as “the Cathedrals of our time” for architects in this period, demonstrating the unrivalled combination of relatively high budgets, prominence in public consciousness and potential for creative expression. Museums additionally held great potential as springboard projects for architects, as many were procured via open design competitions, giving practices the chance to undertake their first large-scale project with a relatively generous budget.

In Scotland in particular, the Museum of Scotland was among the most significant new buildings of the later twentieth century, and the Burrell Collection was celebrated internationally for its architectural quality. These two examples will be studied along with the Museum of Scottish Country Life, another large national museum that received less critical attention than the other examples. Circumstances surrounding the development of the museums will be considered, including a global boom in the commissioning of museum buildings in the late twentieth century, shifts in architectural trends, and economic fluctuations. Contextual factors affecting museum development and construction include the introduction of new funding opportunities, Scottish devolution, momentum towards the new millennium and a growing belief that culture could be an effective tool for localised revitalisation.

This thesis proposes that alongside insights into the projects’ own design and development, wider lessons about Scotland at that time can be gleaned, including the state of the nation’s architectural industry, ideas about production of history and memory, and modes of presenting images of place and identity to a global audience. The three case studies will be analysed with a particular focus on funding and project development, using source material from designers and the architectural press, as well as institutional records from commissioning organisations and funding bodies. These examples and the wider narrative about cultural buildings will be used as means to learn more about Scotland at that time, particularly its architectural scene and industry, but also about the presentation of history to the Scottish public. This thesis argues that new museums in the late twentieth century were highly complex projects to bring to fruition, and grant funding opportunities available to cultural capital projects added complexity and impediments to project development and realisation.

Museum establishment, expansion and construction continue to be highly debated and significant topics in Scotland, and have great importance to the image and narrative of a place. Recent museum projects, including the V&A in Dundee, have prompted public reflection on lessons learned or not learned from museums constructed in preceding decades. Some museums have faced significant financial uncertainty following the Covid-19 pandemic, generating discussion about their economic sustainability and long-term management. The boom of commissioning and funding new museums witnessed during the 1990s seems alien from today’s perspective, and doubts about running costs and visitor numbers lead to reflection on the adequacy of the long-term planning undertaken when these projects were first developed.