Reykjavík Grapevine - 03.02.2012, Blaðsíða 6

6
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 2 — 2012
Reykjavík | Buildings
Although it is by no means a young
city, Reykjavík has very few struc-
tures older than a century left
standing. Perhaps it is for this rea-
son that Icelanders feel a special af-
fection towards those public places
that have been around for decades.
NASA, a nightclub that sits on the
corner of Ingólfstorg square, is
one such place. Not that Reykjavík
has any shortage of nightclubs, of
course, but NASA has been around
in its current incarnation and pres-
ent location since 2001, which is an
historical feat in a city where the
same building might host five dif-
ferent clubs in as many years.
Contributing to that success is prob-
ably the space itself. With an enormous
dance f loor and stage, NASA can easily
host big-name concerts and Eurovision
parties. This versatility, as well as be-
ing located downtown, but not forcing
patrons to queue up on a busy sidewalk,
could in theory lead to long-term suc-
cess.
However, it was announced in early
January that come June, NASA the
nightclub would be no more—that it
would be torn down to make way for a
hotel. Ingibjörg Örlygsdóttir, the man-
ager of NASA, told reporters that it was
"tragic news," adding that not just she
but many others, including numerous
musicians, make their living through
NASA. Indeed, a number of musicians
expressed their regret at NASA’s im-
pending doom, with singer Páll Óskar
going so far as to say he would chain
himself to demolition machinery to
prevent it from happening.
The man behind the decision is the
building’s owner, Pétur Þór Sigurðs-
son. After public outcry to the news,
he stepped forward and told the press
that a) there would be an “idea contest”
hosted by city council for what to do
with NASA, and b) the club had been
behind on their rent for some time.
However, The Grapevine learned
from Reykjavík City Council Planning
Committee member Torfi Hjartarson
that Pétur wanted to tear NASA down
during the previous city council gov-
ernment, which balked at the idea. In
addition, the “idea contest” being host-
ed by city council is being bankrolled
by Pétur, who also sits on the jury for
the contest.
FROM CONSERVATIVE HQ TO AIR-
WAVES
The building itself has a very rich his-
tory. Originally built in 1870 as a girl's
school, it became a centre of operations
for the Independence Party in 1943.
Believe it or not, this was to be the ger-
mination of its form as a nightclub—
apart from political meetings, the party
would also host dances and live music
there. Nobel Prize winning author
Halldór Laxness was a regular. In the
‘70s, under the name Sigtún, the club
would be the first in Iceland to have
strippers. Over time, it grew to be one
of the most popular nightspots in the
capital.
However, even then developers
had their eyes on NASA. In 1978, the
conservative-led city council had bold
ambitions to tear down a number of
old houses in the area to make way for
more modern buildings. The conserva-
tives were ultimately defeated in mu-
nicipal elections before their plans ma-
terialised, and the leftists who replaced
them in 1994 had a strong desire to
preserve the old buildings downtown.
IS THIS REALLy SUCH A GOOD
IDEA?
Torfi has previously argued that the
city ought to simply buy or rent NASA,
but this was not the opinion of the city
council majority. He is strongly op-
posed to NASA being torn down, and
thinks that replacing it with a hotel
would create a number of logistical
problems. For example, many of the
surrounding houses are legally pro-
tected from demolition due to their
historic value, so they would need to be
dismantled and moved.
"The problem with the hotel idea,
as I see it, is the location,” he told The
Grapevine. “To me, it would break up
the beauty of the old houses around the
square. Not to mention the fact that a
large building would block the south-
ern exposure." As Ingólfstorg is the
preferred spot in the summertime for
enjoying the sunshine, many city resi-
dents would likely not be pleased with a
hotel there, either.
Torfi concedes that whether or not
the city needs, the trend is to build ho-
tels downtown. “That's where the tour-
ists want to stay.”
Having said that, he mentions a
number of places downtown that could
be better suited for creating hotels,
with structures already in place for con-
version. “There are so many other plots
in the city, also close to the centre, that
would be better suited; even old build-
ings with great charm that could be
turned into hotels."
MORE AbOUT PRESERVING HIS-
TORy THAN A CLUb
NASA’s fate is no island. The devel-
opment of towering modern apart-
ment buildings on Skúlagata in
2005—blocking the harbour view that
residents in smaller, older houses en-
joyed—was fiercely resisted. In 2009,
squatters who called themselves Af-
taka took over an abandoned house on
Vatnsstígur whose owner intended to
tear it down to build a more modern
structure (while the squatters were
driven out by police, the abandoned
house still stands). Regardless of the
pride many average Icelanders take in
the older buildings you see downtown,
developers are seemingly always look-
ing for a way to replace them with tall,
steel-glass-and-concrete structures.
Still Torfi believes that it is still
possible to stop NASA from shutting
its doors for good in June. "Our ambi-
tion over the last few decades has been
to conserve and strengthen remaining
houses and street views from the old
town still apparent in the city centre,”
he says. “It would be a terrible mistake
to remove or demolish old houses at
this historical spot, not to mention the
cultural value of a unique music scene
in NASA. If the city wants to prevent
this, it can."
Time And Tides And Hotels
How NASA ended up on the chopping block
1. NASA today
2. Advertisement for a concert at
Sigtún in 1979. No jeans allowed.
3. Disco at Sigtún in 1972. All the
popular songs in Europe will be
introduced, including the song
Aprés Toi by Vicky Leandros, who
won the Grand Prix competition
(Eurovision).
Words
Paul Fontaine
Photography
Páll Hilmarsson
Originally built
in 1870 as a
girl's school, it
became a centre
of operations for
the Independence
Party in 1943.
There is a petition to save NASA, somewhere on the internet. Google it.