AVS. Arkitektúr verktækni skipulag - 01.06.2003, Page 35

of the city and those taking part
in its planning coming to terms
with the city as it is and also try in
a properly conscious way to
mend holes in the townscape.
From the middle of the eighties of
the last century, the timber build-
ings of Reykjavík have began to
be justly appreciated and the
same can now be said of con-
crete buildings from the first
decades of the last century.
Recently, emphasis has been put
on recreating the old streetscape
of Reykjavík - as on Aðalstræti.
However, is it justifiable to relo-
cate old tímber buildings within
the city to create a more „com-
plete" streetscape or a street
resembling the original as much
as possible? Are we not in this
way guilty of imitating the old
townscape and hindering natural
development of the townscape of
today? This is, of course, always
a question of one’s viewpoint
or whether one looks at the par-
ticular or the whole and the rela-
tionships created in a built area
during a long period.
According to Rossi, the idea of
permanence appears in the
endeavour to preserve typical
parts within the whole, for exam-
ple, that housing areas keep their
appearance although the activi-
ties have changed. This can
especially be seen in Reykjavík,
where an old and historically
important timber buílding now
houses a sushi restaurant, hous-
es on Kirkjustræti have been con-
verted into offices for Parliament
members, and an old women’s
school has been turned into an
entertainment area. Despite
changes in land use, the district
retains its character.
Reference to the past
The city as a whole is a phenom-
enon containing the common
memories of the inhabitants. The
idea of the historic form contains
a certain development of history,
which appears in forms connect-
ed to the past without recreating,
but rather as reference to the
past. Rossi used simplified forms,
which refer to the past and to the
common memories of mankind,
forms that are so neutral that they
do not disturb but evoke certain
feelings or memories. In this way,
architecture becomes kind of
backdrop for society and its
development. To make this flow
between the past and the present
as natural as possible there must
be cohesion of form, materials
and methods. Rossi maintained
that the connection between the
past and the future was manifest
in idea of the city and that this
connection took place in the
same way as memory influences
the individual and his thought.
The history and the memory
of the city are maintained in many
aspects, not only in buildings, not
only in history and historic writing.
It is contained, as Aldo Rossi
would say, in the common con-
sciousness of the inhabitants and
the city is renewed every day
through the experiences of each
and every one, whether they are
positive or negative. By encom-
passing one’s past without
becoming too occupied with
it or even denying it as many
modernists did during the middle
of the last century, it is possible
to ensure that future development
and all new creation go hand in
hand with the passing of time. ■
1 Rossi, Aldo. The Architecture of the City.
Oppositons Books. MIT Press
1999 (1982)
2 Rossi, Aldo. The Architecture of the City,
bls.7
3 Rossi, Aldo. The Architecture of the City,
bls. 7 (own translation)
(„History exist so long as an object is in
use;that is, so long as a form relates to its
original function. However, when form and
function are servered, and only form
remains vital, history shifts into the realm of
memory. “)
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