Arkitektúr og skipulag - 01.09.1989, Qupperneq 95

ENGLISH SUMMARY
Page 7 Introduction
This issue of Arkitektúr og skipu-
lag (Architecture and Plan-
ning) takes the theme of
churches and church art. The
original idea was to look at
churches types of building
where architects have a free
hand, but it transpires that
architects are less free than
we thought, when they design
churches.
Page 9 Interview with the
Rev. Valgeir Astráðsson
The Rev. Valgeir Ástráðsson is
pastor in the Sel parish of
Reykjavík. The parish's church
centre was designed by archi-
tect Sverrir Norðfjörð, in close
collaboration with the parish
council. The specification
called for a building where the
church's varied services to the
community could be housed.
The building is in four parts,
with the church itself in the
largest, seating 400.
The altar and the pastor are
brought closer to the congre-
gation, breaking away from
the linear tradition of church
design.
Page 14 Blönduós Church
The church, at Blönduós in
north lceland, was designed
by Dr. Maggi Jónsson.
Designed in 1971, the church
can be divided into two sec-
tions, the nave seating 210,
plus another 60 to the side,
and a reception room in the
basement seats 50.
Page 18 Bztension to
Reykjahlíð Church The
church at Reykjahlíð is a tra-
ditional Icelandic church with
a tower, which suffers from
the common disadvantage that
it can not comfortably accom-
modate other activities than
church services themselves.
Architect Gylfi Guðjónsson's
design for an extension is
innovative, with the addition
of a round building at the front
of the church. The nave is
lengthened by about four
metres, and additions at the
side will give space for a ves-
tiy etc.
Page 20 Fella and Hólar
Church
The church/parish centre of
the Fell-and-Hólar parish in
Reykjavík was designed by
Ingimundur Sveinsson and
Gylfi Guðjónsson, whose pro-
posal was chosen after a
closed competition. The
ground-breaking ceremony
took place in April 1982, in
1985 the office and parish hall
were completed, and in
March 1988 the church was
consecrated. The main
church seats about 250, but
with the addition of the class-
room and parish hall, up to
500 can be accommodated.
Page 23 Thinking, Drawing
We introduce a new feature
with a drawing of Saurbœr
Church at Kjalarnes, made
by Björn H. Jóhannesson. This
series will consist of sketches
and drawings placing archi-
tectural designs in their natu-
ral context.
Page 24 The Church that
Never Was
At ísafjörður in the West
Fjords, there had already been
longstanding discussion of
the need for a new church
before the old church was
damaged by flre in 1987.
Architect Gylfl Guðjónsson
was commissioned to design
a new church on a different
site. The design had been fully
completed and publicised
among the townspeople, when
objections to the choice of
site Eirose, and a petition was
circulated to stop the church
being built. The future of the
project is uncertain.
Page 28 Parish Centre for
Akureyri Church
Thecentre.designedby Fan-
ney Hauksdóttir, should be
completed in November or
December 1989. Landscape
architect Halldór Jóhannsson
has also redesigned the area
around the church.
The design was required to
blend in with the existing envi-
ronment of the church, which
meant that it had to be built
underground, with windows on
only on one side.
The ceiling of the building was
designed to be acoustically
favourable, with a view to its
role as a setting for concerts
and social events.
Page31 AMosaicinHáteigur
Church
Artist Benedikt Gunnarsson
writes about his mosaic for the
Háteigur church in Reykjavik.
The work is a gift of the church's
Ladies' Association, who initi-
tated the idea in 1985. Three
artists originally took part in a
closed competition for the proj-
ect. The mosaic was made by
Franz Mayersche Hofkunstan-
stalt in Munich.
The mosaic was created with
the symbolism of the Christian
faith in mind, as well as har-
monising with the church
building itself. In brief, the artist
expresses the theme of light
and faith.
Page 34 Stained Glass in
Churches
The article discusses the need
to design churches with deco-
ration such as stained-glass
windows as an integral part of
the whole. Stained-glass win-
dows must be created with a
view to the multiple ways they
are seen (from inside
and outside the church, lit from
inside, or lit by daylight).
Page 36 The Changing Form
of Churches in Iceland
The Rev. Gunnar Kristjánsson
traces the development from
the simple country churches of
Iceland's history to the 20th-
century churches built under
the influence of the "Eisenach-
erRegulativ", which separates
the pastor from the congrega-
tion, whom it makes into an
audience, rather than partici-
pants. He points out the in-
consistency in the way mod-
em churches have developed;
while the church today places
its emphasis upon pastoral
work and the social, active
role of the church and its
members, modem churches
have not yet reflected
this change.
Page 40 Interior Design of
Churches
Kjartan Jónsson (interior
deigner) and Trausti Valsson
(architect and planner) con-
sider the need for some kind of
continuity or certainty in
church design. In this age of
speed and materialism, church
design has lost contact with
its roots in ecclesiastical tra-
dition. Architects have con-
centrated on the exterior im-
pression of the church, not on
what happens inside. The
Romanesque basilica church,
a style into which the tradi-
tional Icelandic country
church can be fltted, domi-
nates all church design until
this century, when Gothic
influences are seen for the flrst
time. Reykjavík cathedral,
built in 1796, became the
prototype of subsequent Ice-
landic church buildings.
Page 42 Cemetery Planning
in Iceland
Einar E. Sæmundsson write-
about the cemetaries of
Reykjavík, from the original
Vík churchyard which dates
back to the beginnings of
Christianity in Iceland (AD
1000). It is now a public gar-
den in the centre of town. The
second cemetery, at Suður-
gata, was used from 1838,
while a third, in Fossvogur,
dates from 1932. In 1980,
Reykjavík's newest cemetery,
at Gufunes, was consecrated.
90% of Icelanders opt for in-
terment, and cremation is very
much the exception. In this,
Iceland differs greatly from
neighbouring countries.
ARKITEKTÚR OG SKIPULAG
93