Movie Theater under Arnarhóll Hill?
The entrance would be from Lækjargata street.
After reading about the financial trouble of the downtown movie theater Bíó Paradís recently, architect Sigurður Gústafsson dug into his drawer to take a look at an old idea of his: a movie theater to be located under Arnarhóll hill. “I was affected by this [news]; we desperately need a center for this popular art form, movies, in this country,” he tells Morgunblaðið.
A view of the entrance.
“It’s not the surface of the hill that generates the most interest, but what lies underneath - an opportunity yet to be used, the darkness,” Sigurður states. “The darkness is like a blank page. If illuminated, room and shape and pictures become visible. A movie is of the same sort, where light produces pictures, along with movement and time.”
From inside the potential movie theater.
He believes a movie theater at this location could make use of existing roads and parking facilities during the evening hours, when traffic is otherwise limited.
In 1990, while working for a Swedish architecture firm, Sigurður was asked to design a movie theater to be located under Gothenburg’s main square. The project, however, was never realized.
Sigurður Gústafsson, architect. Friðrik Tryggvason
