AVS. Arkitektúr verktækni skipulag - 01.08.1997, Page 61

S U M M A R Y
E N G L I
but the time may come when more
sophisticated methods of handling
sewage have to be introduced.
PAGE 45 THE CENTRAL HIGHLANDS
MUST NOT BE IN THE HANDS OF A FEW
INTERESTED PARTIES
Gunnar Schram, professor of law,
writes about the pian that has been
put forward for the future of the unin-
habited central highlands, about
40% of the total area of lceland. He
argues that it would be unreasonable
to do as the planning committee
suggests, making the highlands sub-
ject to the contiguous local authority
areas. Since the highlands are not
strictly owned by anyone, he argues
that they should be treated as a sep-
arate region owned by the nation as
a whole, and planning should allow
both for utilisation of resources in the
region, and also for conservation.
PAGE 47 REGIONAL PLAN FOR THE
CENTRAL HIGHLANDS
The author discusses the outline plan
for the highlands (referred to in the
previous article, by Prof. Gunnar
Schram). In principle, the aim has
been to limit man-made structures to
certain zones, leaving as much
untouched nature as possible for
conservation.The objective has been
to combine such factors as nature
conservation, land reclamation,
power generation, development of
tourist services, road-building, etc.
The plan allows for some hydro-elec-
tric plants, but no geothermal power
plants, at least for the time being.
Roads across the highlands are to be
keptto a minimum, based upon sum-
mertime traffic levels.
Service centres for tourists are to be
located primarily at the periphery of
the highlands, although there will be
smaller service centres in the high-
lands proper, on longer routes. One
of the main reasons for undertaking
the plan for the highlands was the
question of buildings in the region.
There are at least 400 buildings at
present in the region, only one-third
of them with valid planning permis-
sion, and one-third with adequate
drainage facilities. In the future, all
development in the highlands will be
subject to the same kind of planning
regulations as construction else-
where in the country.
S H
PAGE 52 PLANNING COMPETITION
FOR HRAUNSHOLT, GARÐABÆR
A competition was held for the plan-
ning of a 48 hectare district in the
town of Garðabcer. The winning pro-
posal was submitfed by landscape
architect Áslaug Katrín Aðalsteins-
dóttir, architect/planner Gestur Ólafs-
son and architect Haukur Viktorsson.
They were then commissioned to
develop their proposal into a full plan
for the area. The plan, for a dense,
low-rise development around a cen-
tral service area, allows for a total of
410 homes in detached, semide-
tached, row houses and apartment
houses.
PAGE 54 COMPETITION RESULTS
Architect Finnur Birgisson writes about
a planning competition for Nausta-
hverfi, a new district of Akureyri, north
lceland. Five parties were invited to
participate. The area is about 195
hectares. The winning proposal was
submitted by Kanon architects:
Halldóra Bragadóttir, Helgi Bollason
Thoroddsen and Þórður Steingríms-
son.
PAGE 60 NORDIC CONSTRUCTION
DAY
Þorvaldur S. Þorvaldsson writes about
Nordic Construction Day, a confer-
ence of those involved in planning
and construction, which is held every
three years, rotating between the
Nordic countries. It has been held
since the beginning of the century.
Iceland has been involved since the
1920s, and a formal member since
1938. The last Nordic Construction
Day was held in Stockholm in 1996,
and the next will be in lceland in the
summer of 1999. The author calls
upon contractors and local authori-
ties to show what they are doing, and
for designers, computer and software
specialists, craftsmen, artists, etc., to
participate. He suggests that the
conference will offer an opportunity
to promote lceland in toto.
PAGE 63 HEALTH AND SAFETY AT WORK
Physiotherapist Þórunn Sveinsdóttir
writes about the importance of
designing the workplace in order to
minimise the risk of health problems.
Jobs requiring repetitive movement,
speed and concentration, e.g. on
production lines, lead to back, shoul-
der, neck and arm problems, while
liffing heavy weights adds to the risk.
The working environment should be
designed to be conducive to varied
posture and movement. Ideally, jobs
should involve a variety of different
tasks, with different physical and
mental requirements.
PAGE 67 NEW LEGISLATION ON PLAN-
NING AND BULDING
New legislation on planning and
building, passed by parliament this
year, comes into force at the begin-
ning of 1998. The new act places
more responsibílity in the hands of
local authorities. The present Physical
Planning Agency will be replaced by
a new agency, whose role will be to
monitor the way that the law is
applied, provide consultancy, pro-
mote research, and publish informa-
tion on planning and construction, as
well as dealing with environmental
impact assessment. Under the terms
of the new act, all areas of the coun-
try are subject to planning require-
ments. The new act also introduces a
new form of permit, a „project per-
mit," which will be a requirement not
only for construction but for any kind
of work that changes the landscape,
e.g. afforestation, land reclamation,
excavation or transfer of soil. It will no
longer be permissible to alter existing
plans retroactively to allow for build-
ings that have been constructed
without permit.
PAGE 71 ROOM DIVIDERS
Interior designer Elsa Ævarsdóttir
writes about light screens (paravents)
inspired by Japanese screens, and
the various options produced by
modern designers, for dividing up liv-
ing space.
PAGE 76 MIES VAN DER ROHE PAVIL-
ION AWARD
Pétur Ármannsson writes about the
Mies van der Rohe Pavilion Award for
European Architecture for 1997
which Dominique Perrault received
for the French National Library and
the Pritzker Price for 1997, given to the
Norwegian architect Sverre Fehn. ■
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