Scottish American History Forum

Liz Davidson is currently Project Director of Mackintosh Illuminated the National Trust for Scotland’s foremost capital initiative that seeks to widen and deepen appreciation of the work of Charles Rennie Mackintosh and his artist partner Margaret Macdonald. In addition to new exploration into their lives and work and those of their extraordinary patrons such as Miss Cranston at the tea rooms, Mackintosh Illuminated will involve the comprehensive repair and restoration of his finest domestic commission – the Hill House in Helensburgh, Argyll.
Throughout her career, Liz has worked in the field of historic building restoration and regeneration driven by a strong belief that a good environment builds good communities and places where individuals can flourish to the best of their abilities; the energy and physical effort of construction combining with craftsmanship, thoughtful design and artistry should not be carelessly lost those communities and places that they enrich and give identity to.
After completing her post graduate degree in architectural conservation at Edinburgh College of Art Liz first edited the revision of the Manual for Care and Conservation of Georgian Houses for Edinburgh’s New Town, then worked as the Technical Planning Officer for the Scottish Civic Trust, was architectural co-ordinator for Glasgow’s Year of Culture and set up the UK’s first Heritage Doors Open Day in that city. As director for the Glasgow Building Preservation Trust she delivered conservation and re-use projects including the St Andrew’s Centre for Traditional Scottish Music and Dance, the St. Francis Centre in the City’s notorious Gorbals and the rescue and re-use of the ‘Tardis’ police boxes made iconic through the BBC’s Doctor Who television series, amongst others. Whilst at the Trust she secured- the bid for the Merchant City Townscape Initiative – a major regeneration programme for Glasgow’s historic core which saw over 90 projects delivered, the establishment of the Merchant City Festival which achieved a leverage ratio of £6 Million public grant to over £50 Million inward investment. At the close of the Initiative she was brought into Glasgow City Council as Head of the Conservation Department and City Design section, leaving there to oversee the re-building of the Mackintosh Building at Glasgow School of Art after its first fire in 2014.
Liz firmly believes that of all the creative industries – architecture is the most pervasive and affecting of people’s lives– poor art, music, writing, or film can be ignored, blocked out, not engaged with, and usually – quickly forgotten – but architecture shapes people’s lives and everyday experiences for decades – it has the ability to give people a better quality of life, to nurture and protect, to educate and to celebrate. Everyone comes into contact with architecture and the quality of our built environment tells us about how we value our place and how society values our aspirations.

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85348427054
Meeting ID: 853 4842 7054

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