Reykjavík Grapevine - 12.09.2014, Blaðsíða 42

Höfði-San:
Shrimp Salesman Built A Replica
Of A Reykjavík Landmark
Big in Japan
Fans of Höfði, the white-painted house
which featured so prominently on TV
screens across the globe in 1986 while
the world awaited the outcome of the
Reagan-Gorbachev meeting, are prob-
ably happy that it didn't get completely
drowned in that curiously out-of-place
corporate necropolis.
The biggest fan of the house is
without a doubt Japanese shrimp
salesman Sakuhana. In 1989, Saku-
hana made a perfect replica of Höfði in
his hometown in Japan. He had taken
many business trips to Iceland and
brokered numerous shrimp deals so it
seemed only normal to build a copy of
Höfði.
In 1990, Morgunblaðið newspaper
printed a photo of the house, taken
by Kristinn Pálsson, who visited Saku-
hana on a business trip. “We knew that
he had built that house but it was of
course bizarre to see an exact replica
of Höfði in Japan,” Kristinn told the pa-
per.
Original copies
This was an impressive feat but Sakuhana
was obviously no pioneer in architectural
mimicry. The Eiffel Tower has been the
inspiration for the creation of over 30 du-
plicates all around the world, notably in
Tokyo where a very similar tower can be
found.
China is certainly the world champion
nowadays in copying buildings. A highly
recommended book, ‘Original Copies:
Architectural Mimicry in Contempo-
rary China,’ by Bianca Bosker, describes
this phenomena: "A 108-meter high Ei-
ffel Tower rises above Champs Elysées
Square in Hangzhou.
A Chengdu residential
complex for 200,000
recreates Dorchester,
England. An ersatz
Queen’s Guard patrols
Shanghai’s Thames
Town, where pubs
and statues of Win-
ston Churchill abound.
Gleaming replicas of
the White House dot
Chinese cities from
Fuyang to Shenzhen.
These examples are
but a sampling of Chi-
na’s most popular and
startling architectural
movement: the con-
struction of monumen-
tal themed communi-
ties that replicate towns and cities in the
West."
Bosko warns readers not to mock the
idea of an Eiffel Tower in Hangzhou. She
quotes Howard French, former New York
Times Shanghai Bureau Chief: "There is
a very important symbolic value to this
architectural movement. It is a statement
of having arrived, of being rich and suc-
cessful. It says 'We can pick and choose
whatever we want, including owning a
piece of the West. In fact, we're so rich we
can own the West without even having to
go there.'"
It is at least a testimony to globalisa-
tion to find in Japan the replica of a house
built in Reykjavík in 1909.
What is remarkable is that Höfði it-
self is a replica in a way. "It was built for
the Consul Brillouin who was appointed
to safeguard the interests of the French
sailors fishing at the shores of Iceland,”
according to the City Council’s website.
“In 1909 he and his Norwegian wife or-
dered a Norwegian catalogue house that
arrived ready to be assembled into their
new home. The house was, and remains
to this day, a blend of French and Nor-
wegian design with doors and interior
fittings influenced by the Louis XVI style
and the medieval inspired ornate wood
carvings of the lobby which reflected the
Norwegian ‘dragon’ style."
The house of the spirits
Höfði has been known as "the haunted
house" for a long time. Ever since the
house was built there
have been rumours of
ghosts. The most fa-
mous legend tells that
a ghost of a young
white-clad woman,
who used to live in
Höfði and committed
suicide, haunts the
house.
In 1938, Höfði be-
came a British con-
sulate and was vis-
ited by both Winston
Churchill and Marlene
Dietrich. The British
consul reportedly felt
uncomfortable in the
house. After a series
of letters, in which
he complained of the
presence of "a white lady" and "bumps in
the night," Höfði was sold.
The house was abandoned for some
years in the 1950s and the ghosts were
entertained by hobos who found shelter
in the historic villa. Since 1967 Höfði has
served as the official reception venue to
the City Council of Reykjavik.
An upcoming film?
For some years a film based on the Reyk-
javík Summit has been in development,
with Michael Douglas to star as Reagan
and Christoph Waltz as Gorbachev. Mike
Newell was slated to direct the film but
Variety reported in May that Baltasar Ko-
rmákur was in the running for the direc-
tor’s chair. Ridley Scott will produce.
42 The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 14 — 2014LEMÚRINN
Lemúrinn is an Icelandic web magazine (Icelandic for the native primate of Mad-
agascar). A winner of the 2012 Web Awards, Lemúrinn.is covers all things strange
and interesting. Go check it out at www.lemurinn.is
Iceland became the focus of world attention when US President Ronald Reagan
and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev met in Reykjavík in October 1986 to discuss
nuclear disarmament.
The powerful couple met at Höfði, a small villa on Borgartún, the street where
the ghosts of the fallen Icelandic banking system roam today. Many of the banks
had headquarters and offices on this street, which lies only a kilometre or so
away from the city centre. Before the international financial crisis obliterated the
overweight Icelandic finance industry, the bankers wanted to build huge towers
and other mega structures in the area, which would have made the historic Höfði-
house look like a neatly kept doghouse. Well, maybe it already does as the glass
tower of the nearby Höfðatorg-project dominates the landscape.
Words
Helgi Hrafn Guðmundsson
ARTISAN BAKERY
& COFFEE HOUSE
OPEN EVERYDAY 6.30 - 21.00
LAUGAVEGUR 36 · 101 REYKJAVIK
What is remarkable
is that Höfði itself is
a replica in a way. "It
was built for the Consul
Brillouin who was ap-
pointed to safeguard
the interests of the
French sailors fishing at
the shores of Iceland,”