Plate G4.no9: White Street (Glasgow West End)

Living in Glasgow is synonymous with the tenement. Much maligned in the 60’sd and 70’s, thankfully the tenements architectural merits have been re-recognised, especially the role it plays in establishing urban clarity. The tenement street is a well-defined street, undeniably comprehensible. One knows one’s place, by its homogeny. Yet no two tenements are the same, no two streets either – detail varies, but the totality is consistent and secure.
I could therefore have picked any tenemental street to photograph – but I chose White Street in Glasgow’s West End, for personal reasons. It was my first choice of residence when I moved to the West End (at the commencement of my architectural studies) – and, it frames the Glasgow University spire, conveniently making the point, of urban order: the datum versus the distinctive.