The Iceland year-book - 01.01.1927, Blaðsíða 69

Housing. In towns and villages the majority of
the houses are built of wood and cov-
ered with corrugated iron. This method of build-
ing has, however, been almost entirely abandoned
during the last few years, and all houses now built
are. of concrete, generally throughout, though
floors and partition walls are still occasionally
made of wood. The construction of concrete houses
has reached a very high degree of perfection in
Iceland, and the latest and best constructed
houses seem to leave little room for improvement.
As all building material has to he imported, it is
not difficult to realize the stupendous economic
importance to the people of having thus at last
learnt to build their houses of a well-nigh inde-
structible material; and it is a singular fact that
this great revolution in the building method is
primarily due to the tireless effort of a single
individual, who, moreover, is not an architect, but
a medical man, by profession.
In the rural districts the most common form
of the dwelling house is still the bier, — a house
with earthen walls and wooden gables, the insides
of the walls being lined with match-boarding, the
roof clinker-built and covered with greensward.
But even here when a building is renewed, it is
generally made of the more durable concrete.
Most of the towns and villages are now lighted
by electricity, and even many isolated farmsteads
are of late enjoying the same advantage, thanks
to the abundance of water-power. Otherwise
paraffin oil is used for illumination. In the rural
parts, peat, though frequently of inferior quality,
is the principal fuel, for coal has to be imported.
63