No one symbolises Glasgow's charm, edginess, and spirit of creation more than Charles Rennie Mackintosh.
Rightly heralded as one of the most innovative architects of the 20th century, his influence has extended to the silver screen with Mackintosh's work featuring in a dazzling array of films such as Inception, American Psycho and Blade Runner.
Even with that being the case, it might come as a surprise to many that one of the world's biggest film stars, Brad Pitt, counts himself as one of his biggest fans.
Following the devastating fire which engulfed the Mackintosh building at Glasgow School of Art back in May 2014, Pitt agreed to be a trustee of the Mackintosh Appeal.
Pitt is no stranger to the Mackintosh Building, having visited it on a previous trip to Glasgow - believed to have been in 1994 during the filming of the movie Interview With A Vampire in London.
Speaking about the building in an interview with the BBC in 2014, Pitt said: It’s one the great buildings, its an artistic building were art is made and art is learned.
"Mackintosh was one of those rare individuals who created his own voice, his own vernacular in building and design. And I think he’s always been, just a, one of my favourites".
When Pitt came to the city in August of 2011 to film scenes for Hollywood blockbuster World War Z, he and Angelina Joli spent several hours viewing the Mackintosh-designed Hill House in Helensburgh on a private tour.
At the time, Hill House property manager Lorna Hepburn noted how the film star was "clearly very knowledgeable about Mackintosh".
His visits must have rubbed off on him, with Pitt then citing Mackintosh's 'Glasgow Rose' as the inspiration for his first furniture collection that he launched in 2012.
Done in collaboration with furniture maker Frank Pollaro, Pitt told design magazine Architectural Digest in an interview that the collection had as its beginnings him "doodling ideas for buildings and furniture" in the early 1990s at a time when he "first discovered Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Frank Lloyd Wright".
Speaking about the recurring theme in his table designs which focused on one continuous line of structure, Pitt said: "It started with my introduction to Mackintosh's Glasgow rose, which is drawn with one continuous line.
"But for me there is something more grand at play, as if you could tell the story of one's life with a single line."
Back in 2011, it was reported that the Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society were looking to employ Pitt as their honorary patron.
And while he did become a trustee of the Mackintosh Appeal, perhaps if he was to become patron it would help maintain and further Mackintosh's architectural legacy.
Failing that, maybe Brad should write and star in a movie based on Mackintosh's life?
Just a thought!
