Reykjavík Grapevine - 20.05.2011, Blaðsíða 16

Reykjavík Grapevine - 20.05.2011, Blaðsíða 16
16 The Reykjavík Grapevine Issue 6 — 2011 Experience excitement in Iceland’s pure nature or get a bird’s eye view of the country’s most beautiful places Adventure tours Air charter servicesScheduled flights This tour takes you from Reykjavík to the island of Heimaey in the Westman Islands archipelago. Boat trip on the Glacier lagoon and an ATV excursion in the area of Europe’s largest glacier, Vatnajökull. A never-to-be-forgotten trip showing the sharply contrasting faces of Iceland’s natural features. Activity Adventure A Historical Tour of the Westman Islands Ice and Fire – Glaciers and Volcanoes Reykjavík Airport | +354 562 4200 info@eagleair.is | www.eagleair.is Bookingsand information Reykjavík | History THE MASTER BUILDER, THE MINISTER AND THE CHURCH WE USED TO THINK WAS UGLY The story of Hallgrímskirkja, its architect and plans for a utopian city of culture The idea of building a church on the hill called Skólavörðuholt was first broached as early as 1916. Architect Guðjón Samúelsson started making sketches for the church in 1937. He was intent on finding an Icelandic style of architecture, truly a hard task in a country where the building style consisted of turf huts and, later, timber houses from Norway and Denmark— many of them prefabricated. So Guðjón Samúelsson looked to nature for inspi- ration. Hallgrímskirkja is supposedly influenced by mountains and glaciers, but first and foremost by basalt lava formations common in Icelandic na- ture. These can also be seen both on the interior and the exterior of another Guðjón Samúelsson building, the Na- tional Theatre on Hverfisgata. LONG CONSTRUCTION TIME It took a long time to build houses in Reykjavík in those days. The National Theatre was started in 1932 and not opened until 1950. It was used as a depot for the British and American forces during the war. It was then fin- ished during a burst of energy that so drained the architect’s powers that he was actually on his deathbed during the theatre’s inauguration. The building time of Hallgrímskirkja was 38 years. It rose very slowly out of the ground, sometimes no work was done during long periods. The building was also the butt of many a joke. Iceland´s most famous 20th century poet, Steinn Steinarr, a drinker and a cynic, wrote a famous poem about the church where Hall- grímur Pétursson—the priest and poet to whom the church is dedicated— comes to the architect and asks him to please stop: The Master Builder of the state took a handful of clay the late Hallgrímur Pétursson came to him and said: No more, no more! There was also the question of build- ing materials. Iceland had no trees to build from—up until the mid 20th century there were almost no trees in the country—and there was little tradi- tion of stone masonry. So Icelanders warmly embraced reinforced concrete, so much so that it became the favoured building material. However, the quality of the concrete wasn’t good, and there was too much salt in the sand used to mix with the cement. The National The- atre has been crumbling for a long time and the tower of Hallgrímskirkja has been extensively renovated two times. A BEAUTIFUL BUILDING? It is only in latter years that Icelanders themselves have come to realise that Hallgrímskirkja is actually quite a beau- tiful building. Its fame has come from abroad; it is mentioned in most guide- books and Skólavörðuholt is a favou- rite with tourists who come to see the church and the statue of Leifur Eiríks- son. Skólavörðustígur, the street which lies up to the church, is one of the most pleasant streets in Reykjavík with its small houses of corrugated iron, a building material considered ugly by many but greatly appreciated in a land of wind and rain. In the old days, the hill was very rocky, as were the eastern slopes around Tjörnin, the pond in the cen- tre of Reykjavík. On the top there was a small tower where the young men of the Reykjavík Latin School, then the highest institution of learning, came to discuss their private matters. There was a small road up the hill. Beside it there was an unmarked grave containing the bones of murderess Steinunn Sveins- dóttir, who died in prison in 1805. It was a tradition to throw a stone towards the grave when passing it. Later, when rocks were being taken from the hill to build the harbour of Reykjavík, a small casket with old bones was found and finally buried in the old cemetery on the western side of the lake. THE AUTHORITIES’ FAVOURITE The architect Guðjón Samúelsson was a remarkable man. His buildings are numerous and many of them are quite monumental—no builder in Icelandic history has been so favoured by local authorities. Guðjón’s main spokesman was Jó- nas Jónsson from Hrifla, Iceland’s most controversial 20th century politician. Jónas was by all means a remarkable man. He was a farm boy from the north, and he always held the conviction that real culture was to be found on farms and in the countryside. In 1916 and 1917 he was the founder of two of Iceland's main political parties, Framsóknarflok- kurinn, the Farmers’ Party, and Alþýðu- flokkurinn, the Social Democratic party. Jónas believed it was the destiny of these parties to work together against the corrupting influences of the mer- chant class, and later against commu- nism. THE LITTLE MUSSOLINI In 1927 Jónas entered government, as Minister of Education and Justice, and soon became the most powerful man in the country. He was hated by his en- emies, who actually got the director of Reykjavík’s mental asylum, Kleppur, to declare that Jónas was mad and should be hospitalised. Jónas fought back, the affair is commonly referred to as ‘The Big Bomb’. But certainly he had mega- lomaniacal tendencies—the then-king of Denmark and Iceland, Christian X, is rumoured to have asked him: "Are you still playing at being the little Musso- lini?" True to his ideals, Jónas built schools around the country—higher education was no more to be a domain of the upper class. Many of these large houses, some of them designed by Guðjón Samúelsson, now stand empty around the countryside. Jónas was also interested in cultural matters, founding a state publishing house to counter the influence of communists in literature, and even holding an exhibition of de- generate modern art—taking the cue from German Nazis. CITY OF CULTURE The architect also had huge plans for Skólavörðuholt. Hallgrímskirkja is but a faint shadow of these plans. Originally it was going to be a cathedral in the cen- tre of a big plaza. Around it were to be the university of Iceland, student build- ings, the National Gallery as well as the museum of Einar Jónsson. This was going to be the high seat of Icelandic culture—"Háborg" is the Icelandic word, signifying a glorious city upon a hill. These plans have faded into history. But we have the church and the sculp- ture museum. The hilltop looks better than it has for many years—to tell the truth it used to be a bit shabby. If you look down the hill towards the east and the south you might catch a glimpse of two other large buildings by Guðjón Samúelsson, Sundhöll Reykjavíkur and the National Hospital, both built in the thirties. Another feature of the hill is of course the statue of Leifur Eiríksson who, as Oscar Wilde noted, “[...]found America, but had the good sense to lose it again.” But then, if he had stayed, New York might have been called New Reykjavík and all those Americans might be speaking Icelandic! Words Egill Helgason Illustration Lóa Hjálmtýsdóttir Everyone should try going up to the top of Hallgrímskirkja and looking down on the people Reykjavík. It's pretty neat. “It is only in latter years that Icelanders themselves have come to realise that Hallgrímskirkja is actually quite a beautiful building”

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