A humid and muddy morning back in Glasgow, and a good 25 minute run.
Afterwards we cycled to the newly opened Riverside Museum - the first major UK commission by global architectural celebrity Zaha Hadid. From a distance, and in carefully edited photos, the building is sculpturally stunning. Up close and internally it is a massive disappointment, failing to deliver on almost every count. Glasgow would have been better spending the £74 million on a simple shed of twice the size and half the pretension. What we have instead is a grandiose architectural metaphor for short-term superficial consumerism, cluttered, confused & confusing, and lacking in humanity, and a lamentably missed opportunity to be a showpiece of sustainability. The only saving grace is the collection of objects which, despite the inchoherent display and egocentric building, are for the most part fascinating and sometimes beautiful.
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