Arkitektúr og skipulag - 01.03.1990, Qupperneq 80

ENGLISH
Page 9
An Artificial Skating Rink in
Laugardalur
The artifícial rink, on
which work began last year,
will be 30 x 60 metres, with a
surrounding wall of 1.2 metres
to enable ice-hockey to be
played. A small building with
changing facilities will open
at the same time as the rink,
while furture plans are to roof
in the rink, with the option to
enlarge it, and to build a
larger service building, with
seats for 2,000 spectators. It
will also offer the option of
useing the building for tennis, j
handball and other indoor
sports.
Page 15
Facilities for Athletics in
lceland
lceland offers some
of its sportsmen who prac-
tise athletics very poor facili-
ties. Various field events, like
shot-put, cannot be prac-
tised anywhere indoors in
lceland, and gymnasia and
sports halls are invariably de- |
signed primarily as handball
courts, without any special
provision for athletics. The
new sports hall in
Mosfellsbcer is a good ex-
ample of what can be done,
and various kinds of adapt-
able equipment can be in-
stalled,
Pagelö
Historical Summary of
Sports Facilities
Þorsteinn Einarssondis-
cusses swimming facilities
which were built up in
former times, the oldest
being swimming facilities of
various kinds. For centuries,
certain games and exercises
were practised indoors, such
as lcelandic wrestling - glíma j
- and assorted lifts on rafters
etc. Students at the Learned
School in Reykjavík first
had access to a gymnasium !
in 1858. Tradition and pldce-
names give clues to former
outdoor sports locations.
which were used due to fa-
vourable natural conditions,
Ancient ball games
are known to have been
played in some places. Many
"sports" had a practical ap- |
plication, such as the climb-
ing of a 4-metre-high vertical
cliff, which was a test set for
lads who wanted to go col-
lecting seabird eggs from the
cliffs. In seven places around j
the coast, sets of boulders of j
graduated size can be seen,
These were used to test the
strength of strangers who
came looking for work on a
fishing-boat.
Page 24
Developmenls in Sports
Buildings
Gísli Flalldórsson writes J
about the development of
sporting facilities in lceland,
from the school gymnasium
(8m x 16m) buiit in Reykjavlk
at the beginning of this cen- j
tury. A former Catholic
church and a disused army
Nissen hut were among the
solutions provided in the
early and middle years of
the century. Grand designs
from 1943 for University sports
facilities were not put into
practice, but a more modest j
gymnasium was built.
Larger, adaptable sports
halls have been built all over j
the city since the 1950s. Spe- j
cialised facilities, such as
badminton and tennis courts,
have been appearing in re-
cent years, In the future we
will see fewer, but larger and j
more specialized halls.
Page 28
Swimming Pools
Abundant natural hot j
water has helped to make
swimming a national pastíme
in lceland, and Jes Einar
Þorsteinsson looks back over j
the history of the swimming
pool inLaugardalur.Reykjavík,
It originates in the early 19th
century, and early in the 20th j
century the pool had stone
sides and a concrete bot-
tom. In 1946, filtering and
chlorination were intro-
duced. The present pool (20
x 50 m) was built in 1966,while
new changing rooms and a
jacuzzi opened in 1986. The
author suggests that swim-
ming pools could have a far
wider cultural role, with facili-
ties for concerts, exhibitions
and lectures.
Page 30
Sports Facilities, Planning
and Architecture
Skúli Norðdahl calls for
a more coherent, compre-
hensive policy in the devel-
opment of sports facilities, in-
stead of the present system
wherebysports facilities at
community centres, sports
clubs, schools, etc. tend
to be developed separately
and independently. Fie de-
plores the emphasis on mass j
and team sports, and the
lack of facilities for the gen-
eral public in (usually solitary)
sports.
Page 34
Kópavogur Swimming
Pool
A new swimming
pooi, designed by Flögna
Sigurðardóttir and André
Crispin, is being built in
Kópavogur. The plans allow
for the new facilities to be
added to the small existing
pool in stages, without the
necessity to close the pool.
The final stage will be to roof {
in the old pool. When com-
pleted, this will be one of
the best swimming pools in
the country.
Page 36
Public Policy in Construc-
tion of Sporting Facilities
Reynir Karlsson sums
up the main developments in j
public policy over the past 50
years, since the first legisla-
tionon sports was passed
.ASports Council was then
empowered to give grants
toward the construction of
sports facilities by recognised
organisations. This legislation
also made swimming a com-
pulsory sport for all school
pupils, and ensured that all
schoolchildren had access to
sports facilities. School gym-
nasia were at this stage often
the only facilities in a com-
munity. A system of stan-
dardised sizes was applied.
Today there are over 500
structures (including sports
stadia, golf courses, ski facili-
ties, etc) on the records of
the Sports Council, plus swim-
ming pools and gymnasia.
The future of sports facilities
remains uncertain in lceland
due to difficulties in collabo-
ration between neighbouring
communities, and a recent
change in legislation which
places the primary responsi-
bility on local authorities.
Page 41
Swimming Pool in South-
ern Hafnarfjöröur
In 1982 a decision
was made to build a swim-
ming pool in the newly-de-
veloped southern part of the
town. The town already had
an indoor pool, dating from
1942. The new pool has a
competition pool (25 x 12.5
m), teaching pool,
children's pool, paddling
pool, three hot pots and sau-
nas. The pool is surrounded
by a garden, with minigolf
and jogging track, Much
wood is used in the swim-
ming-pool building, and the
frame is also of wood, with
additional concrete sup-
ports.
Page 43
Ásgarður - Sports Centre
in Garöabœr
The sports centre was
initially designed in 1971, and
built quickly and at low cost.
Originally, a large sports
centre was to be built else-
where in the town, but this
78