Electrical Light and Charles Rennie Mackintosh

Electricity has a long and continuing history. This paper explains the impact that electrical light had on interior design. The focus of this explanation is those interiors closest to the advent of electricity and one turn-of-the-century designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868-1928). Beginning by comparing electrical light with its closest rival gaslight, this paper continues with a look at three factors in electrical history that affect its appearance in interiors. The focus narrows to the fashions appearing for the new illuminant. Finally, to understand how architects and designers applied electricity at the turn of the century, one must examine their work individually. Mackintosh is the subject of the case study embarked on in the last chapter, which examines how his lighting designs contribute to or detract from the designer\u27s place on the cusp of Modernism