To raise awareness of the city’s architectural heritage, present and future, Glasgow annually hosts BLOCK, a week-long festival organized by the Lighthouse, Scotland’s Center for Architecture, Design and the City. And although BLOCK is educational, it is far from dry.

This free celebration of Glasgow’s built environment involves residents and visitors in an energetic program that delivers a range of events which are relevant and meaningful to the community. It includes international speakers and pertinent exhibitions, but it also features some creative ways for people to view where and how they live.

For example, the 2005 festival had a "Claystation," where the public could rearrange plasticine models of existing buildings or add new structures to demonstrate how streets surrounding the River Clyde could be redeveloped. And a workshop looked at bugs and beasts in the city, examining how nature’s architects make use of man’s buildings and explaining how all can co-exist.

However, the really big draws are the tours, which go far beyond a guide reciting historical facts and statistics to a group being herded from building to building. Especially popular in 2005 were the river tours, which among other things reminisced about structures that once stood on the river banks and previewed those expected to be built over the next five years. One river tour invited business people to explore the concept of a floating office, working on their laptop computers or conducting brief meetings on board between tour stops.

Back on land, "Bikes and Buildings" provided a route map that connected architectural points of interest via cycle lanes. Selected buildings gave visitors stickers for the maps, and when the stickers had been collected, tour participants could return their maps for entry into a prize draw to win a new bicycle.

"Architectural Poetry" employed emerging writers to place poems in prominent windows of buildings. The poetry responded to its location as well as to the cultural legacy of Glasgow, with the intent of encouraging passers-by to reflect on the city and its history.

"Sound Walk" attempted to chart some of the unusual and often overlooked aural aspects of the city. Tour participants were given the opportunity to lead others in a search for the source of the sound of their choice.

This is just a small sample of the BLOCK 2005 offerings. People attending the September 30 to October 7, 2006, festival no doubt can expect equally innovative events.

Glasgow has an amazing array of architecture, with a variety of heritage structures found within walking distance of the city’s Central Station. One of those is the Glasgow Herald Building, an 1895 building designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh. The former newspaper office is now home to the Lighthouse, which stages changing exhibitions throughout the year as well as coordinating the BLOCK festival.

Nearby is St. Enoch Subway Station, a combination of the Scots Baronial and Art Nouveau styles that were popular when it opened in 1896. On the same street is St. George’s Tron Church, a low Doric columned building with a very tall Baroque tower, completed in 1809.

Royal Exchange Square was laid out in the 1820s and ‘30s by Archibald Elliot and Robert Black, who designed many of its buildings. However, David Hamilton designed the square’s namesake and centerpiece, the Royal Exchange building, in 1829. With a row of Corinthian columns supporting its wide portico, it now houses Glasgow’s Museum of Modern Art.

Anchoring another square, George Square, is the Glasgow City Chambers, built in 1888, at the height of British Imperialism. The roof of the Baroque inspired structure features a number of cupolas of different sizes. On the facade, relief carvings and statues honor the achievements of Queen Victoria. Detailed stained glass windows indicate the location of the second floor Banqueting Hall.

Other important buildings include: the Glasgow School of Art, also designed by Mackintosh and built between 1897 and 1909; the Mitchell Library, one of Western Europe’s largest municipal reference libraries, opened in 1911; and Custom House, one of the city’s older buildings, dating from 1840.

Also of interest are two churches with tall side towers. St. Vincent Street Church was built in 1859 for the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland. Alongside its Greek temple-like building is an unusual domed clock tower of Oriental influence. In contrast, Renfield-St. Stephen’s Church is a Gothic structure completed in 1852. Its tower is of matching style and rises to a slender pointed spire.

Even this small representation of Glasgow buildings shows why the city is eager to showcase its architecture and architects.

British Columbia travel writer Toni Dabbs is a regular contributor to The Cultured Traveler.