Reykjavík Grapevine - 03.02.2012, Qupperneq 22

22
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 2 — 2012
The area known as bústaðir and Háa-
leiti was once one of the most impor-
tant sources of peat for the residents
of Reykjavík. While peat has since
lost most of its allure, búastaðir and
Háaleiti have assumed a new, no less
important role: as one of the city’s
main shopping areas.
Bústaðir and Háaleiti is one of the ten dis-
tricts in Reykjavík city. It currently hosts
14.000 inhabitants and encompasses the
postcodes 103 and 108. In the not too dis-
tant past, the area was characterised by its
wetlands and its bountiful peat reserves
(peat was used for kindling and fuel,
the harvesting and use of it thus played
a large role in everyday life until around
1920).
The name Bústaðir comes from a
farm that was located in the area. The
farm's original name was Bútsstaðir,
named after a man called Bútur, but at
some point in history it got misspelled
as Bústaðir, which has stuck ever since
(Bústaðir can be loosely translated as
“dwelling place”). The name Háaleiti
(literally: “High hill”) comes from the
fact that it is a hill and geologists tell us
that 11.000 years ago it was actually an
island—one of the few spots in Reykjavík
that was actually above sea level at that
time.
Right up until 1930, everything out-
side 101 Reykjavík was considered to be
‘the countryside.’ This started changing
with the great depression of the ‘30s,
when an impending lack of food instigat-
ed radical action. It was decided that the
wetlands that made up the area should be
dried up and distributed as land plots to
the residents of Reykjavík, who were en-
couraged to grow their own vegetables on
the piece of land they had been assigned.
Some residents even built dairy farms, as
a shortage of milk started to be a problem
in Reykjavík at the time. The cows are
long gone, but some buildings that used
to host dairy farms can still be found in
the neighbourhood.
THE SMALL APARTMENTS NEIGH-
bOURHOOD
When the UK (and later US) began oc-
cupying Iceland in May 1940, the area
again underwent radical changes. Reyk-
javík’s population grew 60% between
1940 and 60. The city was by no means
prepared for such a sharp increase in
population, and lack of housing became
a serious problem. It did not help that due
to a currency crisis in 1950, strict invest-
ment rules were set in place and restric-
tions were put on construction work.
Special permission was needed to build
houses, with one exception: if the house
you planned on building was really small,
it was legal. Thanks to this loophole, a
new neighbourhood called Smáíbúðah-
verfið (literally “The small apartments
neighbourhood”) was planned and built
in what is today known as 108 Reykjavík.
In 1960, a new plan was introduced,
in which shops, private cars, parking
and business-centres played important
roles. One idea was to transform a part
of Bústaðir and Hálaleiti into a new city
centre with businesses, hotels, restau-
rants, The Icelandic National Broadcast-
ing Service (RÚV) HQ, movie theatres,
and The Reykjavik City Theatre. The plan
also put an emphasis on the private car,
allotting large areas for parking spaces
and traffic structures. The delay in deter-
mining the precise location of this new
city centre caused the construction to be
postponed for years, and eventually new
shops sprouted up all over the district to
meet the demand and needs of the grow-
ing number of residents in Reykjavík.
Therefore, the idea to centre all of the
shops in one specific area was never fully
implemented. The stores ended up most-
ly around Suðurlandsbraut and Skeifan.
In the 1960 plan, Skeifan was meant to
be an industrial zone but instead became
a somewhat important shopping centre.
THE FUCK yOU HOUSE
Finally, after deciding the location for the
so-called new city centre, the first build-
ing was finished in 1981. With fourteen
stories, it became the tallest building in
Iceland, housing the chamber of com-
merce and The Icelandic Federation
of Trade, amongst other businesses.
Amongst children and teenagers, the
building soon got the nickname “The
Fuck You House,” inspired by its shape
(which resembles a couple of fingers,
with the one in the middle sticking up).
In 1985, the first shopping mall in Ice-
land, Kringlan, opened next to it. With
Kringlan, Icelanders lost a certain inno-
cence and it did not help that the credit
card invasion started around the same
time. For the first time, Icelanders could
buy food, clothes, drinks and go to a
movie theatre and restaurant, all under a
single roof while paying for it with a plas-
tic card. This marked the beginning of a
new life-style that has been fairly popular
in Iceland ever since.
Myths and stories about elves and
ghosts are rampant in Háaleiti and
Bústaðir, as they are in every district of
Reykjavík. One interesting story claims
that Iceland’s first settler, Ingólfur Ar-
narsson, is buried there with his ship.
Nobody knows if this is really true, but if
you are not in the mood to go native—be-
ing a shopaholic in Kringlan—you can
always check out what some believe to
be Ingólfur’s tomb. It is located 1.2 kilo-
metres southeast of Kringlan, next to a
primary school called Breiðagerðisskóli.
Don’t blame me if can’t find Ingólfur's
helmet, but if you do, please share it with
us.
Right up until
1930, everything
outside 101
Reykjavík was
considered to be
‘the countryside.’
Words
Gerður Jónsdóttir
Photography
Hvalreki
Reykjavík | City planning
EXPLORE: The Home Of Peat, The 'Fuck-you-House', etc.
How Reykjavík got to be what it is, part IV