AVS. Arkitektúr verktækni skipulag - 01.12.2003, Blaðsíða 67

átaki heldur með því að treysta undir-
stöðurnar til lengri tíma. Leggja þarf
áherslu á að hið opinbera marki
stefnu í byggingarlist og hönnun. Slík
stefna verður að byggjast á virkri
samvinnu yfirvalda, atvinnulífsins,
arkitekta og hönnuða svo og neyt-
endanna. það skiptir miklu máli að
viðhorf opinberra aðila til íslenskrar
hönnunar sé jákvætt. Fyrir um það
bil 100 árum fengu íslendingar
heimastjórn og því varpa ég fram
þeirri hugmynd hvort ekki sé tilvalið
að halda upp á aldarafmæli heima-
stjórnarinnar með því að gefa ís-
lensku þjóðinni frjálslynda og
framsækna opinbera stefnu í bygg-
ingarlist og hönnun. ■
An Official
Architectural Policy
Dennis Jóhannesson, Architect
Lack of public initiative
The lcelandic government has no
policy on architecture. The trend over
the last years seemingly points
towards limiting architecture far too
much, and is tailored to the needs of
tenders and construction firms.
Cultural, social and environmental
values do not seem to be important.
General lack of interest and initiative,
regarding its possibilities on wealth-
creation in the business life of the
country, has been dominant with the
authorities on lcelandic design. This
is not very promising.
Official support
The governments of Denmark,
Finland, Holland and Scotland, to
name a few, look differently on
these matters. They have formulated
progressive, official policies regarding
architecture and design, realising that
design and new ideas are a solid
foundation for wealth creation. For
example, dynamic information and
education centres about architecture
and design are operated that sup-
port all kinds of design activities.
Their ministries take an important
part in the running and financing of
these centres, as their role is to
inform and educate the public about
architecture and the value of good
design. Until now, the lcelandic
ministries have not given these mat-
ters much thought.
Good design pays off
Countries now successful in their
industries consider good design their
strongest weapon in the face of
increasing competition. The Dutch
have gained much attention for high-
quality architecture. The Danes live to
a large extent on their good ideas,
with designs marketed as „Danish
Design" having been very successful.
The Finns realised a long time ago
that good design pays, and the
triumphal march of Finnish designers
is a sign of this. British research has
confirmed that design costs, com-
pared to other production factors,
are comparatively small yet return the
greatest value.
A policy on architecture for Scotland.
It is a sign of the importance archi-
tecture has for a nation’s self-image
that the first bill approved by the
Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh,
after gaining home rule in 2000,
deals with their official architecture
policy. Among other initiatives,
this bill encourages well-prepared
architectural competitions for all
major, official projects. An effective
information and educational centre
has been created in Glasgow, per-
taining to everything about architec-
ture, design and city planning.
Scotland is pursuing a progressive
policy on architecture, which
lcelanders could learn a lot from. The
Scottish home government appears
to understand that good design
pays, not only from the narrow fiscal
angle, but also from a social, cultural
and environmental viewpoint.
An architectural policy for a
new century
For a dynamic society to develop in
lceland, the lcelanders must put an
increased emphasis on design. This
cannot be done as short-term action.
The foundations have to be strength-
ened for continuing development.
Official bodies must formulate an
architectural and design policy,
based on the active cooperation of
public bodies, lcelandic firms, archi-
tects, designers and consumers. A
positive official attitude towards
design is very important.
About 100 years ago, lcelanders
received home rule. A good way to
celebrate this 100-year anniversary
may include giving the lcelandic
nation a liberal and progressive archi-
tectural and design policy. ■
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avs 65