AVS. Arkitektúr verktækni skipulag - 01.06.2003, Page 17

dilapidated sheds in the centre of
Reykjavík. One-storey buildings
with practically no history are
conserved in order to retain a
certain atmosphere or „district
picture" (3). One of the most
severe examples of over-conser-
vation which has taken place in
Reykjavík during the last few
years is the conservation of shop-
ping streets in the centre of
Reykjavík. Shopping is probably
one of the most important
aspects of the social fabric,
where goods and ideas flow
through society. Shops are also
where most modern social inter-
action takes place. Shopping has
to be able to adjust to the size
and diversity demands made by
society. If one place cannot meet
these consumer demands, anoth-
er one offering these opportuni-
ties will simply be found. This
development took place during
the sixties when the building of
new retail space in the city centre
was forbidden and retail develop-
ment started to spring up in
industrial areas such as the
Skeifa district.
It is tragi-comic that the city cen-
tre life the conservationists are
trying to save will disappear, part-
ly due to their conservation. The
city centre would fare better if
nothing was conserved and
development permitted within the
limits of roads and roofline.
Architecture expresses the
needs, aspirations and ideas of
society. The architecture of each
time is the best measure of the
cultural level of society. What
happens when the nostalgic
romanticism for the past takes
over architecture and new build-
ings are built to resemble the old:
new oldbuildings?
Does that tell something about
the cultural level of society? Is the
story being told that we have
gone down two steps in the cul-
tural ladder, that the past is better
than the present?
Two examples of turning the
architectural clock back are in
1980’s Britain, where building
committees sought to preserve
the historic look of districts. A
complete backward-looking
architectural style came about
that nobody had foreseen or real-
ly wanted. Still worse was the
backward-looking attitude of the
German Nazi party in the archi-
tecture of the clean Aryan race.
Unfortunately, lcelanders seem to
be falling into the pit of romanti-
cism of the past with some
recent buildings in the centre of
Reykjavík (4).
Is it not time to let dilapidated
buildings be altered, moved or
torn down?
Let us consider the hopes and
dreams of society and build
buildings that symbolise the drive
and strength of society instead of
living in the false dream that the
past is better than the day today. ■
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