Lögberg-Heimskringla - 21.06.1985, Blaðsíða 6

Lögberg-Heimskringla - 21.06.1985, Blaðsíða 6
6-WINNIPEG, FÖSTUDAGUR 21. JÚNÚ 1985 The Torfa Houses Continued from page 5 extension to the Amtmannsstígur house, added in 1905, was moreover the handiwork of Iceland's first trained house-builder/architect, Rögnvaldur Ólafsson. The Torfa houses have seen many activities in their time. The Bankastraeti building housed the country's first bakery, Bernhöfts (est, 1834), which in turn gave the row of houses its formal name, Bernhöftstorfa. Linked to the bakery were a brewery and a family house. Later these extensions became a storage shed and a shop. Other build- ings in the group also have a colourful history. They started out as family residences and later became government offices devoted to every- thing from state economy to vehicle licensing. But whereas the concrete Gimli building was kept up and used constantly, the brick and timber houses around it were allowed to deteriorate. At the heart of this neglect was the attitude held by many Icelanders of middle age towards their past. The old Torfa houses symbolized the old Iceland, poor and ruled by the Danes. The "new Icelanders," the generation that had prospered during the post- war years, called these houses "Rotten Danish timbers" and wanted them replaced with ultra-modern concrete buildings. When a new generation began to demand that the Torfa houses and others like them be restored and preserved, seeing in them their only link with the past, the reaction of older people was often violent. The issue became political, sinCe the conservationists also tended to be active on the left. A debate raged in the newspapers and various city committees for almost a decade, and attempts were even made to set fire to the Torfa houses, most seriously in 1977. The movement towards the conser- vation of the Torfa as a whole started for real when two architect/de- signers, Hördur Agústsson and Thorsteinn Gunnarsson, did a thorough survey of the houses involved. In their report, which came out in 1968, they emphatically recommended preserving the Torfa houses as important cultural monuments. Two years later the Icelandic Society of Architects drew up plans for their restoration and in 1972 a special society, Torfusamtökin, was formed with the express purpose of fighting for a new lease of life for the torfa houses, not only as monuments to the past, but also as centres for small businesses and all kinds of creative activity. For awhile there was a stalemate, but when the great fire of 1977 occurred, supporters of the Torfa realized that something needed to be done quickly. A thorough survey of the state of the houses was carried out, and both the official Council for the Conservation of Buildings and the state archeologist urged the minister in charge to place a preservation order on the Torfa row as a whole — which finally happened in 1979. Torfusamtökin then signed a contract with the ministries of edu- cation and finance, the legal owners of the houses, where the society leased them for a period of twelve years, pledging in return to restore them and put them to use. In February 1980 restoration work was begun, and now, in 1984, all the Torfa houses have been returned to their original state, at least on the outside. The Bankastraeti building now houses the restaurant Laekjarbrekka, one of a score of fine and inexpensive restaurants that have appeared in Reykjavík in the last few years. On the Amtmannstígur side, the house has been turned into a combination of restaurant and gallery. On the left we find the Torfan restaurant, a haven for gastronomes ever since it opened in June 1980; on the right we find Gallery Langbrók, where a cooperative of Icelandic women artists opened a small shop and gallery nearly four years ago, which has become a very successful institution. The old bakery, adjoining the Bankastraeti building, is in the process of being finished, but will house a small all-purpose lecture or assembly room, offices and crafts shops. In all the restorations, scrupulous attention has been paid to the original Exterior of the Laekjarbrekka restaurant. When dusk falls, the Torfa houses look their best. This is the time people like to gather in the Torfa restaurant, to bask in its hospitable atmosphere. Adjoining the Torfan restaurant is the Gallery Langbrók, run by a cooperative of women artists. Their shows of weaving, pottery and prints attract a lot of attention. features of the houses on the outside, every door-post, window-frame, chimney site, but on the inside each house has been adapted to the needs of its occupant, without distorting essential features like rafters, panelling and woodwork. All paint- work is both subdued and tasteful, contributing to the hushed, relaxed atmosphere that seems to pervade the Torfa houses. The Torfa area provides a haven of peace on a busy thoroughfare. Once considered expendable, the Torfa houses have now become an integral part of modern Reykjavík. A corridor on the upper floor of the Laekjarbrekka restaurant, formerly Bankastraeti 2. BARDAL FCNERAL HOME AND CREMATORIUM \Á /innipeg's original Bardal Funeral Home has Wbeen seruing the citys needs since 1894. Bardal Funeral Homes offers a wide uarietu of traditional and modem semices forall faitns. For consultation contact Dauid Pritchard or Jack C. Farrell. CALL 774-7474 24 Hours a Day 843 Sherbrook Street

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