Reykjavík Grapevine - 01.03.2013, Blaðsíða 52

The Reykjavík Grapevine
Gullkistan - Frakkastíg 10 - Sími: 551-3160.
SENDUM Í PÓSTKRÖFU.
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af búningasilfri.
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mynstrið.
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á upphlutinn,
settið frá 90.530 kr.
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og gerðir búninga eru
veittar á staðnum.
Margar gerðir
af búningasilfri.
Þetta er ódýrasta
mynstrið.
Allt sem þarf
á upphlutinn,
settið frá 90.530 kr.
Allar upplýsingar um hefð
og gerðir búninga eru
v ittar á staðnum.
GULLKISTAN
Frakkastíg 10 / sími: 551-3160
thjodbuningasilfur.is
Margar gerðir
af búningasilfri.
Þetta er ódýrasta
my strið.
Allt se þarf
á upphlutinn,
settið frá 90.530 kr.
Allar upplýsingar um hefð
og gerðir búninga eru
veittar á stað um.
Gullkistan - Frakkastíg 10 - Sími: 551-3160.
SENDUM Í PÓSTKRÖFU.
Margar gerðir
af búningasilfri.
Þetta er ódýrasta
mynstrið.
Allt sem þarf
á upphlutinn,
settið frá 90.530 kr.
Allar upplýsingar um hefð
og gerðir búninga eru
veittar á staðnum.
Margar gerðir
af búningasilfri.
Þetta er ódýrasta
mynstrið.
Allt sem þarf
á upphlutinn,
settið frá 90.530 kr.
Allar upplýsingar um hefð
og gerðir búninga eru
v ittar á staðnum.
GULLKISTAN
Frakkastíg 10 / sími: 551-3160
thjodbuningasilfur.is
Margar gerðir
af búningasilfri.
Þetta er ódýrasta
my strið.
Allt se þarf
á upphlutinn,
settið frá 90.530 kr.
Allar upplýsingar um hefð
og gerðir búninga eru
veittar á stað um.
Walking through Elliðaárdalur towards the dreary
brown factory that houses Toppstöðin, I somewhat
expect to step into a vast industrial space full of
dead machines and time-clocks. Instead, I find my-
self stamping my boots off in a vestibule with faux-
wood panelling, neatly designed event posters, and
a glass display case featuring clever design prod-
ucts. It’s only when I reach the second floor that I’m
taken aback—behind protective glass, a gigantic
moon-like sphere dangles freely between the an-
cient turbines of this defunct power plant.
“It’s covered in these old power print-out sheets
that one of the members here found,” Project Man-
ager Sæþór Ásgeirsson says about the sphere, as
he greets me in his second-floor office. “There were
tens of thousands of them. It was like they didn’t
throw anything from the plant away. We even found
the blueprints from 1942!” From his interior window I
am looking directly into the massive industrial struc-
ture I originally expected, but the offices flanking his
are stocked with fabrics, creative posters and de-
signer products. This innovation centre is a haven
for entrepreneurs, a place where people can rent
out offices or workshop space for cheap to develop
their projects and find their footing.
ELECTRIC FUTURE
Originally built in 1947, it functioned as a backup
power station for Reykjavík Energy until it was shut
down and essentially left to rot in 1982. Nowadays,
although there are still active 20,000-volt transform-
ers inhabiting the place, the primary energy source
is mind-power.
After the financial collapse in 2008, some peo-
ple began to redirect the focus of industry in Iceland
onto idea-based businesses and entrepreneurship.
This led writer Andri Snær Magnason, Sæmundur
Ásgeirsson (now chair of the board) and Páll Einars-
son to the doors of this abandoned factory in the
hopes of breathing new life into it. After some rig-
marole with the building’s owners, Landsvirkjun and
the City of Reykjavík, they got the keys in December
2008.
Sæþór is a Master’s student at the University
of Iceland in chemical engineering who became
project manager in June 2012 soon after joining
the centre with his enterprise IceWind, where he
develops small vertical-axis wind turbines for sum-
merhouses.
NOTHING YOU’VE HEARD OF
“Most people come with a concept of what they
want to do,” Sæþór explains about the type of work
that goes on within these walls. “Not many people
are focused on one project. They usually have a ba-
sic product line in mind.” The board of directors ad-
here fairly strictly to bringing in members with ideas
that they find particularly exciting and unusual.
“If someone is making an app for mobile
phones, that wouldn’t rate high on our scale since
a lot of people are doing that these days,” Sæþór
says. “A good example would be Hnoss, a com-
pany that is with us now. They are building these
little houses to create magical worlds for kids. That’s
something different! We’re drawn to stuff like that:
things that we’ve never heard of before.”
On the flip side, businesses are drawn to the
centre, which they can use as a launch pad while
they establish themselves. Today they are booked
solid with 16 resident members. “People usually
only move out when they feel confident about it,”
he says. “That’s exactly what this station is for. We
want to help people get up to the diving board and
take the jump. So we’re not like, aww, you’re going!
We’re like, great! Good luck!”
THE CAT IN THE FACTORY
Financially speaking, the centre relies solely on the
rent from its members—11,500 ISK per month for
an office or slightly more for workshop spaces that
are rented by square metre—which goes directly
into renovating the building. “If we break even at
the end of the year, that’s perfect,” Sæþór says. “It
never will be profitable, probably. That’s not really
the point. It’s just about maintaining ourselves and
helping others to maintain their companies.”
We are suddenly interrupted by a loud miaul-
ing, surprisingly close and remarkably lifelike. “Is
that a cat?” I ask, turning over my shoulder to face
a precious grey-striped tomcat. “This is Bangsi,”
Sæþór says between giving the cat a high-pitched
greeting. “There’s a lot of mice here so he takes
care of that. I went to Katholt, the cat shelter, and I
picked him out. He’s certainly been doing his job.”
This keeps in line with the innovative spirit of the
centre as a frugal and ecological solution to the ex-
pensive prospect of professional extermination.
Bangsi is aware of his mascot status as well.
When Sæþór begins my tour of the building, he fol-
lows us into the lecture hall, where members give
talks on topics pertaining to their field. “You can’t re-
ally come to a lecture if you don’t like cats because
he just jumps from one person to another,” he says.
“Sometimes people stop listening to the lectures
and just watch him.”
A BIT OF A FIXER-UPPER
The lecture hall in question is located in the plant’s
former metering room, still full of the old read-out
machines. The operating desk has been replaced
by a nice lounge nook with couches and a coffee
table. Refurbishing the building is in fact the bulk of
the work that happens at Toppstöðin.
“This is a bit of a dangerous place,” Sæþór says.
“It’s actually still connected to the grid so there are
parts of the building we don’t enter. It constantly
needs fixing up.” As he takes me into the turbine-
hall to show me how they are preparing for Design-
March, it is obvious that this is a slightly precarious
place. He explains that they have a permit that
allows them permanent use of a part of building,
temporary use of the turbine hall, but which restricts
them entirely from other places.
“We’ve been slowly taking over the build-
ing because there were a lot of offices that were
completely ruined. They were full of water or the
roof was missing,” he continues. After two years of
renovations, their plans are far from over, with two
rooms with 8-metre ceilings that they plan to turn
into two different floors. “But of course, if we want
to move into a new part of the building we have to
get approval from The City,” Sæþór says. “It’s a lot
of red tape.”
Dream Factory
For the second year now, Toppstöðin will participate in
DesignMarch by holding an open house event. “Generally
on a day to day basis people work on their own projects
and they don’t have that much time to interact,” Sæþór
says. “When we have an event like DesignMarch we try to
get everyone together to do something that shows what
this organisation is all about.”
The theme of their event is “Magic, Darkness and
Light” and the members of the centre have each tied this
into what they will be presenting. The event will take place
in the main turbine hall of the power plant, which they are
tirelessly working to make safe and free from light to create
a soothing mystical atmosphere for spectators to immerse
themselves in. Here is a quick rundown of what they will
have to offer.
UI Racing Team
They will display their race
car, which recently won an
award from Silverstone Cir-
cuit in the UK for its unique
design. Its look was made
by an award winning graphic
design team from the Iceland
Academy of the Arts.
Ásta Creative Clothes
This fashion designer makes dresses out of her own mys-
tery fabric which is hung up and displayed with accentuat-
ing spotlights.
Hnoss
This team of dreamweavers will
set up ‘The Magical World of a
Child,’ a theatre for children age
one to five intended as an other-
worldly experience for kids to cre-
ate their own adventures.
Inga Björk Andrésdóttir
The clothing designer will present a lecture titled ‘Threads
of the Mind’ on how designers experience their work and
manifest their creativity.

Dagný Bjarnadóttir
& Hildur Gunnarsdóttir
These architects have collabo-
rated with the inmates of a local
prison to build outdoor furniture
out of unprocessed Icelandic
wood. The inmates’ main task was
to help build a frame made out of
water pipes, as the project’s focus is on recycled materials.
Shadow Creatures
This fashion and product line will display their new collec-
tion, appropriately titled “Dark.” As the name implies, the
content is still a bit of a mystery.
Dieter Kunz
The artist responsible for decorating the sound-sphere
mainly works with lasers. H will have a display involving
lasers, lenses and light refraction.
Alexander Schwarz
As a sound therapist, he is de-
veloping a project called ‘The
Sound of Healing’ based on
healing the body through the
use of frequencies. This will be
set up in a hallway where one
may hopefully experience a
positive physical effect.
Marcos Zotes
This architect and light artist will do a large-scale projec-
tion piece from the roof onto the side of the building visible
from the road.
Árstíðir
Toppstöðin’s resident band will play a short concert on the
opening night.
Cutesy-Buttons At The Idea Factory
Toppstöðin fosters cutting-edge crafts and a mouse-killing cat
By Rebecca Louder
Christopher Lund
DesignMarch Special 2013 12
Toppstöðin is a power plant of ingenuity and craft located at Rafstöðvarvegur 4, 110 Reykjavík.
It will host a DesignMarch event on March 16 & 17, from 12:00–17:00. For more information visit www.toppstodin.is.