Mackintosh, Macdonald and the Geometry of Intimacy

A high-backed chair is a small room with four legs. Glasgow’s most celebrated interiors ask a harder question: can a space bring people into relation without deciding what their relationship must be? Mackintosh and Macdonald used geometry, symbolism and atmosphere to shape intimacy. The article asks how rooms edit conversation, how design can gather people without forcing agreement, and how distance can remain part of love rather than evidence of its failure.