CRICELAND

My diploma project

2010-10-05T23:24:00.005+02:00

Reykjavík 10 sites:Menu:view fullscreen
CRICELAND

Diploma finished

2010-09-03T10:57:00.004+02:00

I´m sorry for a very long time of "noblogness". But I was very focused on my project towards the end and the blog got the worst of it....

But now I´m finished. I am an architect and the project went very well!

Here are some images from my CRICELAND exhibition. I will put more info on the project soon.

Olafia, the architect :)

Comedy, Ash and Concrete

2010-06-15T23:34:00.007+02:00

Now Reykjavík has a new mayor.... Comedian Jon Gnarr took over the keys of the city today after his comedy party won the local elections two weeks ago... People claim they are tired of how things have been run and want new blood into politics.....

I hope the new party will take the problems of the city seriously and will be open to solutions and alternative actions!

http://euobserver.com/843/30169

In the meantime...ash blows from the Eyjafjallajökull area and colours the city even more grey......

Local and foreign scientists + engineers are now researching if the ash can be used in production of cement.... .... welcome GREEN CONCRETE!

http://www.cowi.com/menu/news/newsarchive/generalnews/Pages/volcanicasheyedasbindingagentingreenconcrete.aspx

Very relevant in a country where almost everything is built out concrete!

and some pics from my sisters balcony......

Slowarchi-interview

2010-06-10T17:49:00.003+02:00

I don´t know about the sweater Gundersen.... but there´s not so much stuff on this on youtube. Some in Italian....but I´ll keep on looking.

Poor but peaceful

2010-06-09T20:39:00.000+02:00

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9G6T1G84&show_article=1

Project Manifesto

2010-06-09T11:16:00.011+02:00

After third conversation and time with tutors this week and last it was time to look over my project and start making a clearer frame around it.

Starting with a manifest of intentions and goals.

And to accompany the manifest, some pics of site nr. 5 - the empty building site that became a little square.

Found this.....

2010-06-04T14:17:00.002+02:00

..... picture of when I was in Reykjavík last autumn.... Just found it again and I loved it. The movement in it. The one high element sticking up from everyting else, the tremendous paste....

maybe it´s a "so 2007" image ?

Post eruption tourism campaign

2010-06-02T23:05:00.002+02:00

Inspired by Iceland Video from Inspired By Iceland on Vimeo.

3rd confrontation

2010-06-02T22:23:00.003+02:00

Last Thursday we had our third confrontation. The last one before handing in our project in august.

Tips and comments on my project (short notes).

Go more into models, research each site, go closer into situations you find interesting. Human scale and materials.

Goal is to connect sites again to the Icelandic situation.

Dealing with slow architecture (origin in slow food movement, opposite of fast food). -you build because you need.

The space I don´t touch is equally important as the space I do touch.

Confronting my own culture, beware of coming too emotional.

Juxtapositions.

Vernacular Culture.

Emphasizing the voids.

Questioning sustainability.

People are given more power to participate.

Registrations, walk"a"map, site-sketch books

1:10 000 10-site models. (one to the right is upside down....)

1:1000 landscape born... some earlier analysis on top.

My workspace

The golden circle.....

2010-06-02T15:13:00.006+02:00

From Wikipedia.

The Golden Circle is a popular tourist route in South Iceland, covering about

300 km looping from Reykjavík into central Iceland and back.

The three primary stops on the route are the national park Þingvellir,

the waterfall Gullfoss (meaning "golden falls"), and the geothermally

active valley of Haukadalur, which contains the geysers Geysir and Strokkur.

Other stops include Kerið volcano crater, Hveragerði greenhouse village,

Skálholt church, and the Nesjavellir geothermal power plant.

96% of all the tourists in Iceland visit the city of Reykjavík and it´s centre. Tourism is now providing for around 18% of the national income after the crash and that seems to be the main reason for all the hotel focus in the city. This is where investors are looking these days to invest their money.

But over time this unstable economy will change. Become more stable, even more unstable, who knows. Putting too much power in the hands of investors should really not be the way to go and the evidence of that are everywhere.

Build to last-not build on a whim.

A little sketch I did some time ago.... the "fools golden" circle...

More on slow architecture

2010-06-01T15:37:00.005+02:00

http://archinect.com/news/article.php?id=P2852_0_24_0_C

After the fast and the furious building frenzy the last decade slow architecture is a concept well worth focusing on in Reykjavík.

Small scale implementations that focus on reconnecting sites and buildings back with the system or city structure.

It´s not only about building up slowly but to see how already existing structures can be taken into use again....piece by piece.

I´ve started on a 1:1000 model...and 10 smaller ones.... Jumping between 1:100-1:1000 scales.....1:50´s and 1:1´s will soon emerge I hope!

Going to try out my ideas and find out what kind of structures can be a part of solving some issues.

This week it´s all about models....

Slow Architecture

2010-05-29T18:23:00.003+02:00

Slow architecture

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Slow Architecture is building a building slowly and gradually

as opposed to building it all at once.The resulting building

usually is far more cost efficient than that of a traditional

building.Governments and companies can use this building

method to cut down on costs.

The term Slow Architecture is also used in a broader context,

not limited to one building.'The use of the characteristics of

the existing will maintain a strong bond between a building,

its environment and society. The present environment is the

result of a string of aspects that

together keep the process alive of which the present is the result.

The use of the context will make it possible to maintain local

traditions in building and create unique images. Not to preserve

history, but to give new developments a place in a continuous

proceeding process.'

Centre and Sites

2010-05-26T15:21:00.003+02:00

Scenario making

2010-05-26T15:17:00.015+02:00

Me and my group-buddy Anette made a quick task for our selves today. Two hours to make a reflection on our scenario.

...going through my process in my mind....

(normally I don´t like to leave long writing posts, but today has been about clearing my head)

Energy...

The new energy within people, the will to take matters into their own hands. Energy as a natural force, the landscape and climate conditions that bring over-abundance of flowing water and steam that keeps the society going.

Nature...

What nature gives us and what it takes away. Such harsh and beautiful nature, so cold and windy, so rugget and wet. A volcano taking control of the whole world.

Unemployment...

So many idle hands that could be given the opportunity to start something on their own or participate in building their surroundings.

Scale...

How do you define a new building in your neighborhood that is 10 times higher than your house, took away some hours of sun and blocks the mountain view you had. Can you accept it, feel a part of it...

Green...

What is green in Iceland? A crooked birch branch on a hillside, the green moss meeting the pitch black sand.... "Green" spaces...A little lee from the northern winds outside a café or behind a house... a spot to play football...the wonderful vegetables and fruits from the green houses....a little potato patch.

Space...

All the space the car occupies, all the new open space, redefinition of space.

Knitting...

The power to pick up the knitting pins and put clothes on your family´s back, merchandise in your little shop, discuss the situation, swop recipies, let your mind flow...something so local yet very international, global.

Democracy...

Redefining democracy. The power back to the public. The will to influence your own future, participation.

The leavers...

Why do they leave, feeling of hoplessness, anger, discrimination, hundreds of applicants for one job.

Creaters...

The music scene, artists, architects, colouring the society.

Time...

Learning to linger... appreciate...adapt. The relevance of the now and the later.

The financial city becoming the city of hotels....

2010-05-26T00:17:00.003+02:00

The main thought of planning the city-center of Reykjavík in 2002 was "densification". The densification plan 2002-2024 became a formal goal within the planning commitee and became main focus for the formal area plan. In the end of 2008 it wasn´t controlled by the city anymore but by private investors who with help from the banks were controlling the whole planning scene, building pretty much whatever they wanted. The ideas of the planning comittee of preservation of older buildings and new projects were the basis to work with but instead of enforcing stronger building regulations, the situation got out of control. What now is left is not a denser city at all but huge gaps left when older housing was torn down to make way for the new. And the new that stands ready, mostly empty and was builtmostly with great resistance from nearby residents that formed organisations to stop rising of high rise in the midst of their neighborhood. So they stand left with an unwanted guest.

What´s happening now is that these buildings and plots stand and wait. Some have or wait for their contractors/investors to go bankrupt and some wait for projects to be pressed through to keep the wheels going.

Suggested use for empty houses are mainly to make them into hotels even though there is not a shortage of accomodation in the city. I called the Icelandic tourist board for information on accomodation. There are various guest houses and hotels and it is only during high season or special events that guesthouses are fully booked and then there are normally empty rooms at the better hotels.

It´s very important to think further than just hotels and that the city plan is revised in accordance to the new situation. What can be done right away, what various programs can fill these empty buildings and plots that benefit their surroundings. They can´t all be filled with hotels....

How can these spaces become meaningful again and how can the people around get a connection to them?

Inspiration

2010-05-23T20:43:00.001+02:00

Thanks V.

Walk_a_map

2010-05-19T15:55:00.003+02:00

Architecture as a protagonizer....

2010-05-18T09:51:00.003+02:00

I´ve just got back home and am sorting out my travel stuff. So I haven´t been posting here for some days. But now I´m backkkkkk and stuff will start to pop up again :)

I was working with my 10 sites in Reykjavík and I sadly realized I can´t fix them all since I´m just one student with one diploma. But I non-the less realized that each site has a potential to become something else than what it is today.

Most if not all of the sites have been brutally cut with their past function and use leaving them unfamiliar to the city and it´s inhabitants. They need a new purpose in life.....

a jump start.

Site 4 minimovie

2010-05-12T01:57:00.003+02:00

Site 10 minimovie

2010-05-11T00:53:00.007+02:00

Rúntur...

2010-05-07T17:19:00.007+02:00

Rúntur in Icelandic means basically to drive about. In a city with around 650 cars pr. 1000 inhabitants (other capitals in Scandinavia with around 200-350) a big part of the culture becomes the car and the car ride. There is no train or tram-system to get you about so you either use your feet, bike, bus or car.

I want to invite you an a rúnt down Laugavegur, which is the main shopping street in Reykjavík attracting tourists and people with a diversity of small shops, 2nd hand, design, tourist shops, restaurants.....

This rúntur is probably the most popular one in the city. You buy an Icecream=Ísrúntur (whatever time of the year) and go on a rúnt with some good people, or alone for that matter.

It´s a part of the everyday activity on a Reykjavík street whether you like all the cars or not.

I had posted one rúntur before but that was early in the morning and kind of constructed I felt. I suddenly found myself on a real "rúntur" with a good friend of mine after we had been out eating indian food. Luckily I had my camera. We were in a good mood, bellys full and lots of people out on a wednesday night at 10 in the evening. There was a holiday the day after.

Enjoy the "rúntur" for a couple of minutes.

Icelandic tourism

2010-05-07T16:39:00.001+02:00

Knit a tank

2010-05-06T14:32:00.001+02:00

Knit this.....

10 sites

2010-05-04T12:26:00.004+02:00

A preliminary map of my 10 sites in Reykjavík city centre.

Eyjafjallajökull

2010-04-28T18:07:00.002+02:00

Airport thoughts.

2010-04-27T17:42:00.006+02:00

View: Full / zoom (down right corner) / zoom to page.
Never going home again...A hobbits nightmare.

View more documents from ollabolla.

Just cruising on my private jet last february....

2010-04-24T11:38:00.003+02:00

and took some snapshots on the way....

enjoy... (menu/fullscreen)

Aerial Rvk

View more presentations from ollabolla.

Lauras blog and a fantastic little movie....

2010-04-23T13:53:00.004+02:00

I visited Lauras blog today ( a fellow diploma student) and found some interesting connections to my project. She talked about acupuncture architecture and a couple of posts down you can see a danish movie about making connections which reminded me somewhat of my project.

No Iceland trip executed this week due to Mr. MonsterVolcanoGlacier but I look hopefully towards monday....

I´m goint to focus mainly on DAV (the other world exercises) in Iceland and I´m gonna post pictures and movies on Google Maps/Earth and publish here ofcourse... I plan to post at least one new item each day and by that make a comprehensive map of my sites and the space between them.

By now I have 10 sites in the city centre I´m working with. It remains to be seen if I keep them all but I think the most interesting thing about them is that they show such a wide specter of different plots, going through different kind of city structure, from highly dense to wide open.

And here is a movie I really like by BLU....It´s me walking around Reykjavik.

Corruption...Eruption?

2010-04-21T14:56:00.002+02:00

Last week a big report on what happened leading up to the collapse was released in Iceland. In this report everything comes into light, all the corruption, who did what and where and why... Some politicians have resigned after being implicated in corruption.

Things come out that are so outrageous that a normal little architect brain like mine has no way of understanding how morality can be so utterly absent with my fellow countrymen.

And at the same time Eyjafjallajökull explodes and carries ash all over the world... I think it got a little discusted with us and wanted to clean out good....

It´s getting rid of the all the grey......

VG_volcano pics

2010-04-18T14:57:00.002+02:00

Volcano Pics.... people living next to the volcano trying to rescue their animals....

Ash engulfing everything leaving amazingly creepy grey landscape.

Criceland or what....

2010-04-18T12:23:00.007+02:00

My friend Mr. Monstervolcanoglacier is keeping me in Norway for the time being. That´s sucks a little but I´ll use it to inspire my work instead...

Reykjavík engulfed in ash cloud... citizens transported to Svalbard.....

And since the devil is finally here I´ll share a slideshow of what will happen to the world after we´re gone.... which will probably start on wednesday when Katla awakes... Take a look!

Mapping

2010-04-13T15:04:00.000+02:00

Push menu-view fullscreen :)
Pink mapping

View more presentations from ollabolla.

New postcard?

2010-04-10T11:07:00.000+02:00

I was recommended this blog post by a man that once was Mr. RedHair in Holland.

In polls it shows that well over 90% of tourists are happy with Reykjavík. They like the city, think it´s clean and has a lot to offer...but lacks maybe the element of surprise.

But as you can see in this blog this tourist saw something he didn´t expect.

Analyse this

2010-04-06T16:46:00.000+02:00

Here are some basic registrations of Iceland and Reykjavík.This is an ongoing process and more information will be added now and then.This friday we have a workshop/confrontation with our projects so things are slowly becoming clearer on where and what I want to work with.
View:Press Full. Then chooze "zoom" down in the right corner and there "zoom to page".
Analysis

View more documents from ollabolla.

Most brilliant!

2010-04-04T02:20:00.001+02:00

Is someone reading my blog OR WHAT ;)

Police hunt 'The Midnight Knitter' wool graffiti bandit
| Metro.co.uk

In the meantime...

2010-03-29T09:35:00.000+02:00

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

2010-03-27T14:44:00.000+01:00

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

2010-03-22T11:49:00.000+01:00

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

View more documents from ollabolla.

Knitting

2010-03-20T12:45:00.000+01:00

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...

2010-03-17T22:28:00.000+01:00

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

2010-03-15T18:59:00.000+01:00

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

2010-03-14T22:01:00.000+01:00

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

View more documents from ollabolla.

The Remains of Detroit

2010-03-13T14:03:00.000+01:00

"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

2010-03-10T14:33:00.000+01:00

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

2010-03-09T13:59:00.000+01:00

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

View more documents from ollabolla.

Kaupthinking

2010-03-08T19:49:00.000+01:00

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

2010-03-07T12:53:00.000+01:00

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?"