AVS. Arkitektúr verktækni skipulag - 01.12.1993, Síða 72

ENGLISH SUMMARY
This issue of Arkitektúr, verktækni og
skipulag (Architecture, Engineering and
Planning) focusses on the interior envi-
ronment.
PAGE 11: TURNING POINTS AT THE
TURN OF A NEW CENTURY
At the end of the 19th century, Reykjavík
was the setting of a cultural dichotomy:
the traditional rural culture of Iceland and
the new urban culture imported from Den-
mark. Today a similar situation exists, as
Icelandic conventions confront a more
cosmopolitan culture from mainland Eu-
rope. The pictures on the next few pages,
taken.in the Arbær Folk Museum in
Reykjavík, illustrate the contrasts of the
tum of the last century.
PAGE 17: A TURNING POINT IN
CAFÉ CULTURE
The city of Reykjavík has undergone noth-
ing short of a revolution on the café scene.
The town’s old-established cafés all share
the familiar Scandinavian style, with room-
dividers and rough-hewn natural materi-
als. Recently-opened places have more
the feel of a bistro in southem Europe. The
following pages illustrate this contrast of
cultures.
PAGE 25: WHAT MAKES ICELANDIC
PRODUCTION UNIQUE IS
ICELANDIC DESIGN
Interior designer Elísabet Ingvarsdóttir
interviews fumiture designer Sigurjón
Pálsson, who was among the exhibitors of
Icelandic fumi ture design at the Reykjavík
City Hall in October 1993. Sigurjón
Pálsson’s design, „Rapsodia" goes into
mass production at Bmne Möbelfabrik in
Germany in the begining of 1994. He
describes the difficulties he has experi-
enced in seeking financial backing for his
work in Iceland. He emphasises the im-
portance of closer collaboration between
designers andmanufacturers. TheRapsodia
chair, which is stackable, makes reference
in its form to the violin and cello.
PAGE 28: EXHIBITION BY
ICELANDIC FURNITURE DESIGNERS
IN REYKJAVÍK CITY HALL IN
OCTOBER 1993
Pictures of some of the exhibits.
PAGE 30: THE KITCHEN OF THE
FUTURE
Guðrún Margrét Ólafdóttir and Oddgeir
Pálsson consider the way that the family
uses a kitchen: it needs to be an adaptable
centre of the home, a place to read, write,
watch TV, as well as the family’s eating
place, and a setting for dinner parties. The
tendency is for meals to be quickly pre-
pared, and kitchen appliances play a grow-
ing role. There is increasing variety in
kitchen fittings for different tastes, rather
than standardised units. In the future,
kitchen design is likely to adapt more and
more to individual needs and demands.
PAGE 33: GROWING
GENERATIONS AND ICELANDIC
BUILDINGS
Economist Þór Sigfússon makes the inter-
esting point that, although Icelanders are.
on average, taller than other Europeans,
many public buildings are built with rela-
tively low doorways. He suggests that,
since the Icelanders are still growing, de-
signs of public buildings should take this
natural factor into account.
PAGE 34: ICELANDIC HUMOUR IN
ARCHITECTURE
Architect Ami Þorvaldur Jónsson writes
about the extraordinary hotch-potch of ar-
chitectural styles which may be observed
in Iceland, reflecting a „nouveau-riche“
lack of taste and tradition. Though some-
times called „picturesque,“ he says it is
nothing but a joke. He points out the pre-
dominance' of houses designed, not by
architects, but by builders, on the basis of
the prospective owner’s (sometimes bi-
zarre) preferences.
PAGE 37 HOUSE OF A SUICIDE AND
HOUSE OF A SUICIDE'S MOTHER
Tine Nörgaard writes about two works by
American architect John Hedjuk, presented
to the Czech people in tribute to the memory
of Jan Palach.
PAGE 41: A LETTER TO THE
MAGAZINE (In English)
PAGE 44: THOUGHTS ON QUALITY
AND REGULATION
Ami Geirsson of the Icelandic Fisheries
Laboratory discusses how a quality-man-
agement system is being developed for the
laboratory. assessing such factors as: time
spent on information gatheimg, perform-
ance at meetings and presentations, qual-
ity of reading matter produced, swiftness
of response to inquiries, and the custom-
er’s assessment of the service given. A
target value is set for each factor to be
included. The system does not simply
award numerical „marks“ for each factor,
but is based upon simple descriptions of
target, which can then be compared with
real results.
PAGE 47: ON THE DRAWING
BOARD - A PARK ON HVERFISGATA
TO COMMEMORATE THE HALF-
CENTENARY OF THE ICELANDIC
REPUBLIC
A small park, 700m2, is to be created on a
lot in downtown Reykjavík, commemo-
rating the 50th anniversary of the Icelandic
Republic in 1994. The design, by land-
scape architect Y ngvi Þór Loftsson, incor-
porates such national-historical references
as use of various types of rock from the
four Quarters (north, south, east and west)
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