In the meantime...

I´m working on analysis these days and before I post some of that..... I stumbled upon this site with beautiful pictures of Reykjavík. Most taken a few years back but that´s ok....

http://www.photographyblogger.net/day-11-reykjavik-iceland/

soooo 2007

I was recommended to join a facebook group that´s called 2007-what picture can you think of. There you can post pics that you think depict the situation before the recession.

Icelanders are calling the era of Megalomania (see earlier post) as "2007". So now there´s a saying that when something reminds you of the times before the crisis it´s "so 2007". That building/car/jacket etc. etc. is sooooooo 2007.

This picture for me is very 2007 :)

BIG´s winning proposal for the new headquarters of Landsbanki, The National Bank. No need to add maybe that there is no money to build this now.......

The secret knitters and the Greymen

View: Press Full. Then chooze "zoom" down in the right corner and there "zoom to page".

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Knitting

Now it is a year and a half since the crisis hit Iceland and the dust is starting to settle. Like I showed in my clip of "visible wounds" the empty spaces in the city centre are even starting to get some colour and activity. This has been done with some benches and paint and I think it´s great that people take matters into their own hand just to change the scene a little. With little cost and just some vision, you can change so much with so little.

There is a lot of energy that lies within people that tend to resurface in crisis times. When people have it too cozy and easy they tend to get lazy. When you don´t have to work hard on achieving stuff, things are taken for granted.

One thing i noticed when I was in Iceland was that everybody was knitting. And I mean everyone. Knitting was on it´s way to be forgotten in many ways but now you see parents teaching their children, people rekindling old knitting talent and Icelandic facebook statuses are filled with knitting tips and people posting pictures from latest "knits".

Knitting is not only becoming "hot" in Iceland. You see it everywhere these days. People seem to have more time to sit down and use their hands and mind to create something. It does not cost a lot of money and it is quite mind soothing. Some knit after recipes and others use it to create something brand new.

I´m gonna look at this knitting phenomena somewhat... it fascinates me.

Here are some knitting Icelanders I met..

And like you see, when something is "in" in Iceland...

IT´S IN AAAAALL THE WAY!

Some more Hávamál.... to brighten the day...

From Wikipedia:

Hávamál ("Sayings of the high one") is presented as a single poem in the Poetic Edda. The poem, itself a combination of different poems, largely presents advice for living and survival composed around the central figure of Odin. Composed in the metre Ljóðaháttr, a metre associated with wisdom verse, Hávamál is both practical and metaphysical in content. This is particularly apparent towards the end of the poem, as the poem shifts into an account of Odin's obtaining of the runic alphabet and obscure text relating to various charms and spells Odin knows.^[1]

The only surviving source for Hávamál is contained within the 13th century Codex Regius, and is thought to be no older than from around the year 800 AD (though derived from an earlier oral tradition). An early reference to the poem is by Eyvindr skáldaspillir, found in Hákonarmál from around the year 960 AD

These are words of wisdom and many apply to everyday life still today. These are words ignored before the crisis that now should be honored and taken into consideration! Some words of wisdom that should make everyday life better :)

Deyr fé

deyja frændr

deyr sjálfr it sama

en orðstírr

deyr aldregi

hveim er sér góðan getr

Cattle die,

kinsmen die,

the self dies likewise;

but the renown

for the one who gets good fame

dies never.

from 13th century poem: Havamal

Reykjavík 1926

A friend of mine sent me this interesting link to a film of Reykjavík in 1926.

Glimpse from everyday life, people posing, really nice :)

Visible wounds

After the national bankruptcy in October 2008 there has been almost a full stop within the building industry in Iceland. This is very clearly visible in the capital.I spent some weeks in Reykjavík in february and march. I wanted to stagnation is affecting the city. So I went on a photo mission to look at places that are physically and visually affecting the inhabitants of the Grater Reykjavik area.First I show the suburbs and places in the towns surrounding Reykjavík and then I go to the city centre.view: full and than go to bottom right page and choose view: zoom to page.
Visible Wounds

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The Remains of Detroit

"Photographer Sean Hemmerle finds an elegiac sign of America's fading industrial might in the crumbling urban ruins of the Motor City"

Here are some amazing pictures from the city. Tomorrow I will post pictures I took of Reykjavik just recently.

http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1864272,00.html

Hávamál

Bú er betra

þótt lítit sé

halr er heima hverr

þótt tvær geitr

eigi ok taugreptan sal

þat er þó betra an bœn

The dwelling is better,

though it be small;

each man is a free man at home;

though he own two she-goats

and a hall roofed with withies,

it is still better than begging.

from 13th century poem: Havamal

BAS_master_Portofolio

My masters portofolio from three semesters. Fall 2008-Fall 2009.

(two of the pages are mangled but I tried uploading again and it didn´t get any better, sorry about that).

For a good view choose "full" and then "zoom to page" down to the right.

BAS_Master_Portofolio

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Kaupthinking

Megalomania is a non-clinical word defined as: [1]
A psychopathological condition characterized by delusional fantasies of wealth, power, or omnipotence.
An obsession with grandiose or extravagant things or actions.

Just to show some of the arrogance shown by the Icelandic banks before the collapse. This is not only something that was going on within the walls of the banks. This is also visible in buildings and spaces made in this period of "grandness".

Welcome to Criceland

My diploma blog.

Student: Olafia Zoega, Bergen School of Architecture.

Place of diploma: Reykjavík city and the greater Reykjavík area, Iceland.

"Is a neighbourhood still a neighbourhood without the neighbours?

Iceland is now facing circumstances they have never faced before. Huge growth of the Icelandic banking sector with adventurous investments overseas resulted in national bankruptcy in the fall of 2008. This is one of the worst national bankrupcys in history. The country went from being one of the riches (allegedly) countries in the world to becoming dependant on support from the International Monetary Fund and other countries in a matter of days. The IMF loan was the first loan to a western nation since 1976.

When the country and it´s countrymen now try to stumble back on their feet it is hard to make sense of what has happened. It is one thing to be an Icelander living abroad as I am and another thing to be stuck in the middle of the turmoil. I was travelling over the border between Russia and Norway when I received the news. I had been in Russia for five days, totally oblivion to what had happened. Bankruptcy? Will my folks lose their jobs? What does a national bankruptcy mean?

It not only addresses the financial status of a nation. Iceland has been through bad times before. But that has usually been when the fisheries have failed or natural disaster has occurred. But this time it seemed to be our own fault. Something we made ourselves, something we could possibly have prevented.

This has sent the Icelanders soul-searching and in search for their true identity. How are we perceived by others? How do we perceive ourselves? What is “Icelandic” today? It was a vastly growing business “empire” that never really existed. Reykjavik was expanding outwards with great speed as contractors threw up neighbourhoods all over the place. But how do you live in a neighbourhood with hardly any neighbours? How do you come to terms with what has happened and who is to blame?"