Archinect - News

Team jvantspijker / Felixx wins competition for the redevelopment of Vogabyggð, Reykjavik.

2014-01-30T15:23:00-05:00

Two Rotterdam based offices jvantspijker and Felixx will design the new redevelopment plan of an industrial seaside area in Reykjavik, Iceland. The firms have won the first prize through an invited two-stage competition. The plan consists of 110.000 square meters of mixed use program, including four hundred new dwellings.

The location is tightly embedded within a port and transshipment area, a residential area and a large nature reserve. The competition is one of the first focus areas of a large long-term masterplan set up by the municipality of Reykjavik. The overarching plan commits to redevelopment, densification and sustainability.

The firms jvantspijker (planning and architecture) and Felixx (landscape architecture) used the ambition of densification to reconnect the urban area of Reykjavik to the surrounding Icelandic landscape. "In the current situation landscape and city are related as the inverse of each other", according to the Rotterdam design team.

"The renewed link between...

Harpa Wins 2013 EU Prize for Contemporary Architecture - Mies van der Rohe Award

2013-04-30T13:37:00-04:00

The European Commission and the Mies van der Rohe Foundation have announced Harpa, the Reykjavik Concert Hall and Conference Center in Iceland, as the winner of the 2013 European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture - Mies van der Rohe Award.

The 'Emerging Architect Special Mention' award goes to María Langarita and Víctor Navarro for the Nave de Música Matadero (Red Bull Music Academy) in Madrid, Spain.

Previously: Five Finalists for 2013 EU Prize for Contemporary Architecture - Mies van der Rohe Award

Rafmögnuð Náttúra By Marcos Zotes

2012-04-06T14:49:00-04:00

Marcos Zotes has shared with us his winning light installation for the Reykjavik Winter Lights Festival 2012.

Photo by Ragnar Th Sigurdsson

Marcos Zotes, winner of the Reykjavik Winter Lights Festival 2012, and Chris Jordan presented Rafmögnuð Náttúra in Reykjavik, Iceland, as the main event for the festival in February. The work consists of a temporary, site-specific installation that appropriates the facade of Hallgrímskirkja church with a large video-mapping projection. The aim is to transform the static condition of this iconic landmark into a dynamic, engaging and participatory visual experience, and to intervene by socially activating its surrounding public space.

Photo by Pétur Már Gunnarsson

Marcos explains: “I am fascinated with finding new ways to interact with the existing urban environment. I feel the city is there for us at our entire disposal, and we must reclaim its public spaces and urban structures in ways that exceed the limited uses for which they were o...

Olafur Eliasson's Harpa Concert Hall Opens in Reykjavik

2011-05-20T14:15:00-04:00

The new glass Harpa Concert Hall in Reykjavik is finally complete, opening for business this month. Designed by jack-of-all-trades Olafur Eliasson and Henning Larsen Architects, the project started construction last year right after Iceland’s economy tanked, but has proven itself to be a beacon of the promised recovery. The glittering hall mimics basalt crystals which are indigenous to Iceland.