Demanding immediate action
Architect Guðni Valberg took this photo of Bernhöftstorfan in Reykjavík in the spring of 2014 when it was to be demolished. Artist Egill Sæbjörnsson likens the contemporary struggle for beauty to the struggle to preserve the "Turf". Photo/Guðni Valberg
A group of architects, engineers and artists is demanding immediate action to stop the decline of Icelandic architecture. At the same time, more attention should be paid to the beauty of buildings and other key aspects in the public interest.
“The reason is that many people have had enough of ugly buildings that are starting to crowd out people and human life, including in the city center. In our opinion, this built environment is inhumane,” said Egill Sæbjörnsson, a visual artist in Berlin, in an open interview with Morgunblaðið last Friday on the occasion of this appeal.
Sæbjörnsson likens the appeal to the fight of idealists for the preservation of Bernhöftstorfan in Reykjavík decades ago (see photos).
Guðni Valberg's computer image of the Government House above Lækjargata according to the drawings of the government architects from 1971. The image was published in Guðni and Anna Drafnar Ágústsdóttir's book, Reykjavík sam ekki var (Reykjavík's buildings that never were). Computer image/Guðni Valberg
Public interest prevails
The appeal reads as follows:
"A call for a change in attitude towards urban planning and design:
We, the undersigned, demand immediate action to stop the current development of cities and towns in this country, i.e. the planning and development of neighborhoods and houses that are primarily shaped by the interests of capital rather than the public good.
We urge that cities and towns be shaped with the benefit and health of society in mind, be rooted in our cultural heritage, that settlement patterns and house types be appropriate to the country's global status, and that planning be governed by the principle that beauty, quality, diversity and efficiency be the guiding principles that create the best living conditions for the public.
We demand that regulations and planning laws be reviewed with the aim of ensuring that the public's right to live in a healthy and constructive environment is always paramount and that cultural and historical values and the environment are respected," the appeal says.
You can declare your support for this on Island.is .
Egill Sæbjörnsson lives and works in Berlín. Photo/Studio Egill Sæbjörnsson
Nationally renowned architects
The following authors are Ásta Logadóttir, Egill Sæbjörnsson, Hilmar Þór Björnsson, Hjörleifur Stefánsson, Magnús Skúlason, Margrét Þormar, Ólafur Hjálmarsson, Páll Jakob Líndal, Rafael Pinho and Stefán Thors.
Hilmar Þór, Hjörleifur, Magnús, Margrét, Stefán and Rafael are architects. Ásta and Ólafur are engineers, while she is an expert in lighting and lighting in buildings. Páll Jakob is an environmental psychologist and Egill is, as mentioned, a visual artist in Berlin.
One of the founders of the Turf Association
Magnús Skúlason was interviewed in Morgunblaðið on January 9th.
He studied architecture at the Oxford School of Architecture in the 1960s and was one of the founders of the Turf Association, which campaigned for the restoration of Bernhöftstorfan. He was also one of the founders of the Vesturbær Residents' Association in 1977 and later became the first chairman of the Central City Residents' Association in 2008. He was a member of the Reykjavík Building Committee from 1974 to 1988 and was chairman from 1979 to 1982.
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