Tímarit Máls og menningar - 01.02.2011, Qupperneq 68

H j ö r l e i f u r S t e fá n s s o n
68 TMM 2011 · 1
Í upphafi greinarinnar er innihald hennar kynnt m.a. með þessum
orðum:
“In this paper I want to discuss the Icelandic architectural heritage and how
it has become a contested project at a time when governmentally sponsored
initative to reserve a place for Icelandic turf-house heritage on UNESCO’s
World Heritage List takes place. At the same time when this happens, private
enterprise, like the Icelandic Turf-house Project, is responding to new govern-
mental cultural policy with its investments in cultural heritage. In particular
I will discuss how the implementation of neoliberal cultural policy in Iceland
has undermined the authoritative status of the National Museum of Iceland
in relation to its role as the guardian of the Historic Buildings Collection and
architectural heritage […].”
“The negative strand towards turf-houses became in the late 19th and early
20th century a influential discourse about the modernization of Iceland. The
elimination of turf -houses became a moral mission of modernization to improve
hygene and the general well being of the population. The turf-house was identi-
fied as a national problem and its elimination and replacement became part of
state-led nation-building projects. As such the turf-house gradually became an
emblem of “old ways of living” incompatible with modern society. In the 1920s
specifically Icelandic architecture also emerged as part of the nation-building
project but it did not use the turf-house in toto as a source for creating visual
Torfhúsið og módernisminn mætast á Blönduósi. Úr bókinni Um sérstakt
framlag Íslands og íslensks samfélags til sögu ófullkomleikans. Ljósmyndir
1930–1945, safnað af Sigurði Guttormssyni.