Reykjavík Grapevine - 09.09.2016, Síða 29

29The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 14 — 2016
are actually from Reykjavík, or its
surrounding municipalities.
“Half the people here are from
Hafnarfjörður, and then we have
people from Seltjarnarnes, and
all over the Reykjavík area,” says
Anna. “There’s office space all
over Reykjavík, but nowhere near
as many creative spaces, where
you can have some noise and
mess going on. It was something
that was definitely missing, and
there's a demand for more.”
Anna thinks that this coop-
erative, communit y-focussed
approach is part of a trend that’s
often easily ignored. “All the talk
is of entrepreneurs in Iceland,”
she says. “There should be more
focus on how communities can
work together, rather than small
businesses competing with each
other. You can do so much more
when cooperating rather than
competing."
This approach also breeds a
spirit of volunteerism that helps
such projects to get off the ground.
“There have been a lot of things
and people that appear at just the
right time,” says Anna. “But we've
been waiting a while for someone
to appear and help us to develop a
café and market. There's so much
potential here—just like Grandi in
Reykjavík. It's all been an organic
growth—very natural, rather than
being on a planning table for ten
years. We'd like to keep that spirit.
We would love for this old house
to keep developing in this creative
direction.”
"Hafnarf jörður is just ten
minutes away from Reykjavík but
people are like, ‘Oh, you're so far
away,’” Anna finishes. “But this
area is a great alternative to 101.
Von is a really great nearby restau-
rant, and we have Pallett across
the street with their great coffee.
It's an area that's really coming
alive."
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