AVS. Arkitektúr verktækni skipulag - 01.06.1994, Side 65

ENGLISH SUAAMARY
Page 51 POST AND TELECOM AD-
MINISTRATION
The PTA has many buildings around
the country, many of which have to be
located on hill- or mountain-tops. All
efforts are made, however, to minimise
the visual impact of these structures.
Telephone lines are now almost invari-
ably underground; when this work is
carried out, the aim is to restore the
previous surface as soon as possible.
Emphasis is placed upon mainte-
nance work, so that the PTA’s struc-
tures retain a neat appearance.
Page 53 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION
AND CULTURE
The ministry empahsises the impor-
tance of buildings harmonising with
their surroundings, being practical,
and well-designed.
Page 54 FINAL PROJECT: WHAL-
ING AND WHALE RESEARCH
STATION, HVALFJÖRÐUR
Sveinn Bragason’s final project from
the school of architecture in Copen-
hagen is for a whaling and whale-re-
search station. He chooses a location
near the actual (now disused) whal-
ing station in Hvalfjörður. The design
is for a working whaling station, to-
gether with research facilities for 8 sci-
entists, plus facilities for visitors.
Page 57 DOWNTOWN
REYKJAVÍK, SUMMER 1993
A research project was carried out by
university-level students in downtown
Reykjavík in the summer of 1993. They
investigated: a) the number of pedes-
trians in the downtown area, and their
reason for being there. b) the attitude
of Reykjavík inhabitants to the down-
town area. c) the usage of space in
downtown buildings. The aim of the
project is to help find ways to promote
the downtown area, and encourage
more activity there. The vast majority
of pedestrians in the area lived
nearby. People from the suburbs trav-
elled into the centre once or twice a
week in summer, less frequently in
winter. Most of the people asked were
happy with the downtown area, and
felt that it was important to conserve
historic buildings. A survey of pas-
sengers aboard cruise vessels that
called at Reykjavík showed that few
of them spent any time in the city. Most
simply took a day-tour into the coun-
try.
Page 60 LÝÐUR SIGURÐSSON
Artist Lýður Sigurðsson combines the
art of painting with work as a furniture
desinger. He feels that the old skills
are beíng lost, and that lcelandic
craftsmen should concentrate on pro-
ducing high-quality furniture rather
than attempting to compete with im-
ported mass production.
Page 65 ENVIRONMENTALIMPACT
ASSESSMENT
Legislation on Environmental Impact
Assessment has recently been intro-
duced in lceland. Einar Pálsson writes
about the way in which EIA is carried
out, from initial screening (excluding
those projects which need not be sub-
jected to EIA), scoping (the scope of
the assessment in individual cases)
and means of minimising or compen-
sating/correcting the environmental
disruption, to the submission of a re-
port. He makes the point that, at
present, the general public does not
have an opportunity to make its views
known until a late stage, when design
work is reaching completion.
Page 72 QUALITY MANAGEMENT
IN THE DANISH CONSTRUCTION
INDUSTRY
Halldór Guðmundsson writes about
the introduction of a universal scheme
of quality managment at every stage
of construction projects. Each body
involved in the project is required to
produce guarantees of quality. A pe-
riod of five years is laid down for such
guarantees, and an assess'ment of the
project is made 5 years after comple-
tion. This means that, if a fault appears
in this time, action can be taken to
prevent the same error being re-
peated. The system discourages
experimentalism, although innovative
approaches are acceptable if they
have been fully tested.
Page 75 QUALITY MANAGEMENT
IN THE ICELANDIC CONSTRUC-
TION INDUSTRY
Problems with buildings arise for vari-
ous reasons: design faults, poor
standards of work, lack of a proper
specification, etc. The authors sug-
gest that lceland needs to adopt a
similar code of quality control in con-
struction to that applied in Denmark
(above). The different groups within
the lcelandic building industry need
to work together and share the respon-
sibility, rather than each acting inde-
pendently.
Page 80 SUMMER COURSE AT THE
ICELANDIC SCHOOL OF ARCHI-
TECTURE
The lcelandic School of Architecture
was founded this summer, as a first
step towards establishing architec-
tural studies in lceland. The school will
hold its first summer course (at uni-
versity level) in June-July, on the sub-
ject of buildings at the Þingvellir Na-
tional Park. Many tutors from abroad
will teach on the course, which will end
with an exhibition of the students’
projects.
Page 82 THE ROLE OF BUILDING
COMMITTEES: ICELANDIC
HUMOUR IN ARCHITECTURE,
PART II
In the second of two articles, Árni Þ.
Jónsson writes about the “cacophony”
of lcelandic architecture. He feels that
municipal buílding committees rarely
assess the visual impact of the de-
signsthey consider, concentrating in-
stead on whether the proposed build-
ing fulfills building regulations. He
feels that lcelanders should be brave
enough to demolish architectural mon-
strosities. He points out that certain
districts of Reykjavík do have a con-
sistent, pleasing, aspect.
Page 86 PLANNING IN RURAL
AREAS
Architect Geirharður Þorsteinsson
considers some of the planning prob-
lems that arise from the enormous
demand for summerhouses. Planning
authorities are hardly able to keep up
with developments, but the Physical
Planning Agency has made some
ground-rules for such development.
New building must harmonise with the
natural environment, and with existing
structures. Colours are important, ei-
ther “natural” colours, or camouflage
colours to reduce the visual impact of
various structures on the landscape.
The question of size of building is also
important, especially in terms of dis-
tinguishing holiday homes from full-
time residences. ■
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