Reykjavík Grapevine - mar. 2023, Blaðsíða 21

Reykjavík Grapevine - mar. 2023, Blaðsíða 21
21The Reykjavík Grapevine 2/23 Best before: March 2, 2023 shop.grapevine.is shop.grapevine.is shop.grapevine.is shop.grapevine.is* shop.grapevine.isshop.grapevine.is Don't Hesitate! Act Now! * You only need to type the URL in once Get Grapevine Merch! MUSEUM OF DESIGN AND APPLIED ART GARÐATORG 1 210 GARÐABÆR OPEN TUE–SUN 12–17 WWW.HONNUNARSAFN.IS Instagram Facebook honnunarsafn EXHIBITIONS HÖNNUNARSAFNIÐ SEM HEIMILI AT HOME IN THE DESIGN MUSEUM OPENS 27.01. THE PLATFORM BEST BOOK DESIGN FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD 2022 OPENS 20.01. RESIDENCY ADA STAŃCZAK CERAMIC DESIGNER OPENS 20.01. Iceland’s architect Jóhannes hired Iceland’s most prominent architect, Guðjón Samúelsson, who would later design many of the country’s cardinal landmarks, including Hallgrímskirkja, the University of Iceland’s main building and the national theatre. “As with all of Guðjón’s build- ings, Hotel Borg set a new stan- dard,” says Pétur. “The most lavish parties, the best dances and first class rooms. It was the centre of entertainment and cultural life in Reykjavík.” A tight one-year deadline was set for the project at a cost of 1 million Icelandic króna (300 million in today’s value). No expenses were spared, including sending Guðjón abroad to study the latest in hotel design. Built in a neoclassical style, Borg remains one of Reykjavík’s more stunning landmarks. “The interior demonstrates the more fashionable trends of the time. The chandeliers were Bauhausian and Guðjón travelled to Denmark to buy designer furniture,” Pétur explains. “A master decorator was brought in from Hamburg and he painted the ornaments in the lobby that have art deco elements. Today, you would call his style airbrush, but that was revolutionary at the time.” Stepping into Hotel Borg today is to be transported back to a more lavish time, before Nordic functionalism and minimalism took over. “In European cities, you’ll find many comparable or even more beautiful buildings, but for Iceland this was remarkable,” says Pétur. The foreign visitors From day one, Hotel Borg was the place to be in Reykjavík, playing host to most of the famous visi- tors to Iceland. Ella Fitzgerald and William Faulkner stayed during their respective visits, and Marlene Dietrich performed in Borg’s Gilded Hall. British poet W. H. Auden wrote about the hotel in his rather listless 1937 travel book “Letters From Iceland,” explaining that it was the only place in town to get a drink, before remarking “if you can afford it,” thus demon- strating that despite how much has changed, very little actually has. Hotel Borg was, for many years, the only gig in town, and, in the spirit of its cosmopolitan flair, only international musicians were hired to play during its formative years — much to the chagrin of the local talent. It wasn’t until 1944, when the Icelandic govern- ment needed a ballroom to host its independence reception, that Jóhannes conceded to allowing local talent to perform. In fact, for the duration of the musi- cian strike of that era and up to the government’s intervention, Jóhannes had opted for a gramo- phone player to entertain his guests, unwittingly making Borg Iceland’s debut DJ venue. But it was for a different kind of first for which the hotel bar would earn its notoriety. An oasis in an oppressive desert “The boys at Borgin don’t offend anyone, although they kiss and flirt, walk around with pink drinks and frozen smiles.” So goes the opening line of Bubbi Morthens’ song “Strákarnir á Borginni,” which tells the story of how Hotel Borg became the first de facto gay bar in Iceland. The story of Icelandic women cavorting with American GIs during WWII is well documented, but less so is the story of Icelandic men who were equally attracted to these dashing troops. It was at the bar at Hotel Borg, in the darkness of the only dance venue in town, that men and women alike would intermingle with uniformed men from across the pond. In the decades that followed, the hotel would be a haven for gay men who were otherwise forced to live in hiding in a discriminatory society. “In the 60s and 70s it was an oasis in the desert for gay men,” says Hörður Torfason, the founder of LGBTQ rights organisation Samtökin ‘78. “Everyone knew about the noon bar at Borgin; it was the best spot to fish.” Hörður was 18 when he started working as a waiter at Hotel Borg and he remembers fondly the scene that formed around the gay community that frequented the spot. According to Hörður, the regulars largely comprised an older generation who had spent their weekends throughout WWII hooking up with U.S. troops. “Society at the time was oppressive, but the doormen and waiters didn’t care that you were gay. Those years at Borgin were funny and enjoyable,” Hörður recalls. “Everybody knew, but everybody pretended they didn’t.” “The culture there was charm- ing and tempting and everybody who was anybody in town went,” recalls Hörður. “Borgin was the centre of gravity for culture in the capital and wherever there is fun and entertainment you’ll find gay men.” Avoiding life as an office space Jóhannes retired in 1960 and by the 80s Borg’s golden years were behind it. The hotel’s once elegant interior was deteriorating and its financial situation was dire. Parliament had plans to purchase the hotel in 1989 for office space, until an unlikely saviour came along. “Davíð Oddson, then mayor of Reykjavík, had the municipal government buy the building in 1990 to stop parliament from turning it into offices,” explains Tómas Tómasson, perhaps better known as Tommi á Búllunni or, for international readers, Tommi of Tommi's Burger Joint. “I then purchased the business from the city in 1992 and, over the next 10 years, invested in returning it to its former glory. At the time it looked more like a hostel than a luxury hotel.” Since then, Hotel Borg has been through several rounds of renovations, but it is once again in a state befitting a landmark with such an illustrious history. Hotels are ubiquitous in modern Reykjavík, but only one symbolises the spirit of a nation regaining its independence, stepping out of the mud huts to become a city. Hotels are ubiquitous in modern Reykjavík, but only one symbolises the spirit of a nation regaining its independence, stepping out of the mud huts to become a city. TRAVEL

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