No Buildings Taller than 6 Stories
The Reykjavik Grapevine: A work group in cooperation with the city of Reykjavík has recommended that no buildings be constructed that are taller than six stories, in order to ensure that residents can have a view of the natural surroundings.
Behind the idea is the belief that Reykjavík’s environs, which includes Mt Esja and (on a clear day) Snæfellsjökul, should be protected by directing approval of planning projects to keep the maximum height of buildings in the downtown area between four and six stories. In this way, most city residents will be able to continue to enjoy the sight of these natural surroundings.
Halldóra Vífilsdóttir, an architect and the chairman of the group, told RÚV that while in some instances it could be permissible to allow buildings to be taller than this, that “residents should be able to enjoy the view, and see for example Esja and Snæfellsjökul. A large part of being a Reykjavíkingur and being an Icelander is having the environment that we live in, and it’s a part of the residents’ quality of life to be able to enjoy these environs, and plan construction around them.”
Possibly the best article I've ever read.
theavant-gardeplaylist: Britain has done nothing but screw over other countries with their police state ideals, just ask the Irish or Scottish…even us “soddy” yankees. I don’t condone the IRA one small bit, but it’s the monster Britain created; they are responsible for it.
Oh let’s move together to Iceland, between Japan and Russia there’s no other place in the world I want to be than in Iceland.
Haha, sounds like a plan! I’ve never been so vehemently in love with a place I’ve never been before… There isn’t an ounce of me that can wait to be there. Mmm.
theavant-gardeplaylist: ever since I started this project, i’ve gotten more and more obsessed with Iceland
You and me both. Gah.
Possibly the best article I've ever read.
And not just because it’s about Iceland. It’s just so amazingly well written, and describes exactly why I am so fascinated with this tiny island and Icelandic culture and living there. The attitude of the Icelandic people is the exact same attitude you would find in North Dakota, my home. It’s the outlook I was raised on. It’s a long article, and you can read the entire thing here, but here are some of my favorite parts.
The act that tipped the last Icelandic bank off the edge of the cliff was delivered by Gordon Brown, who froze Icelandic assets in the UK using our new, gleaming anti-terrorist legislation. The Icelanders mind that — they’re hurt by that. You see, they always imagined they were one of us, not one of them. But Gordon needed to do something cheap to look competent, so he beat up a smaller kid. Not just a bit of a slap, but a vicious kicking. Showing off to impress the girls. He would never have started it if the banks had been German or French, or even from Liechtenstein.
The Icelanders mind about the terrorist thing. They don’t even have an army. They barely have a jail: it’s more of a drop-in centre. The police drive you home if you’re too drunk. This is the most liberal, reasonable, hard-working, decent, moral, amusing and well-educated people on the Continent; a nation who are temperamentally the furthest away from terrorism. Remember that about Brown — the man who said he wanted to prevent the export of terrorism. Remember it when he puts on his Save the World, Mr International Harmony hat. He put an ally into intensive care for the sake of a headline and three points in a weekend poll. Perhaps he didn’t notice. Perhaps he was looking through his glass eye.
Let’s just be clear about what Iceland really is. Most people think it’s the size of the Isle of Wight with the population of, say, Holland. It’s bigger than Hungary, bigger than South Korea, which has a population of 50m. There are just over 300,000 people in Iceland. So that’s a country the size of Portugal with the population of Bradford. Those are Mr Brown’s terrorists.
…
People may be hurt by Brown and the British, and embarrassed by the gluttony and ineptitude of their own businessmen, and they are angry with their government. They want an election and someone to be Icelandic enough to grasp the blame and responsibility. But about themselves and the future they are remarkably, Nordically sanguine. Avery direct woman in a bar said: “All that money, all the things and the stuff, it’s very un-Icelandic. The wantin g, the conspicuous consumption, the avarice and ambition, the pathetic jealousy, that isn’t us. A great weight has been lifted now the money and the desires are gone. We can get back to being who we are.”
Who the Icelandics are is one of the great enigmas of northern Europe. They speak an ancient, pure Scandinavian. They are horrifically hard-drinking, maudlin and prone to flights of dark nihilism and lengthy bitterness. They are taciturn fishermen and farmers; stoical, practical and moral. They have published more books and produced more chess grandmasters per head than anywhere else. They read more and write more, they sing and play instruments. Everyone here can change a tyre, strip an engine, ride a horse, sail a boat, dress a sheep and cure a salmon. They have grown through a hard Calvinism to a moral atheism while maintaining an open mind about elves.
Roads are moved to avoid the homes of the hidden people: elves have to be asked permission before new buildings are built, and country folk see them regularly, not always when drunk. The fairy folk who share this empty island with the humans are Adam’s other children: the unwanted, cloaked by God in invisibility.
…
There is something invigorating about Iceland at this moment — like being with people waking from a dream. It’s exciting and instructive. It’s a patronising cliché to say that people have wealth beyond mere riches. Nobody is better off for being poor. But this tight-knit, undemonstrative community at the edge of the world has been woven together from sterner stuff than I think we could muster. “We’ll be all right — we’re not going to starve,” a shopkeeper told me. “We have fish and rye and mutton and barley. We can grow the odd tomato in a polytunnel. We have skills — useful skills, practical skills. And, you know, they’re under-heating the pavement outside my shop so it won’t freeze in the winter. All our energy is thermal and free. So maybe I can’t have a new mobile phone, but when I get drunk and fall over, the pavement will keep me warm.”
Icelanders react to bad news the way they always have. It’s the same way they react to good news: they get hammered.
Icelandic music consists of more than the likes of Björk, Sigur Rós, Amiina, and Ólafur Arnalds. Oh so very much more. I bring you… Páll Óskar.
Maybe Graduate School?
theavant-gardeplaylist: I think I’ve made up my mind, I want to live in Iceland. Maybe for Graduate School.
eastling: I may have said this [several, several] times, but I am TOTALLY LIVING IN ICELAND after I graduate. Slowly picking up the language; I even made my Facebook default language Íslensku to help me out. I’m going to visit sometime this summer, too. SO SO EXCITED.
theavant-gardeplaylist: No way!! I’m right now studying Icelandic for my linguistics project. I can tell you now I’ve already fallen in love with it. There’s so many things that come from that country that are absolutely awesome; Sígor Rós, Ólafur Arnalds, beautiful Icelandic women :P. I’m studying abroad in Russia my undergraduate courses. I recently switched my major to Russian. If I make enough money, I’m planning on going to Iceland for graduate school. Slavic and Scandinavian/Norwegian cultures are quite wonderful. I have facebook in Russian too, great minds think alike.
eastling: What are you using to learn Icelandic?? I’m desperately trying to find an effective resource, but right now all I have is a hodgepodge of random Icelandic blogs, a really terrible translation site, and an Icelandic-English online dictionary (but it doesn’t work English-Icelandic and I don’t get the grammar AT ALL). I’m thinking about living in Iceland for a while, and then going to grad school in Oslo. Scandinavia is, I think, my favorite corner of the world… possibly because of my own ancestry, haha!
theavant-gardeplaylist: I have an Icelandic Primer written by Henry Sweet, you can get it online for free or I can send it to you in an email. (mine is rrosenthal@liberty.edu) It may be a little difficult for a non-linguist to read, being that most of the book is written for a linguist, but they have stories at the end of the book in Icelandic and a breakdown of every word. It’s extremely useful, being that there’s not much learning materials for this particular language save for yourself actually studying in Iceland. I’m also using a book on colloquial Icelandic, which is pretty helpful. I’ve been using ANKI (spaced repetition flashcard maker-ma-jig) to memorize everything. If you can speak French, Assimil also has a course in Icelandic. [I haven’t started that yet, as my French isn’t as good as my English yet] I believe the school in the link above is free to attend, being that Iceland’s colleges are government run, kinda like France. I’m not sure how that would work for international student though. I’m still researching. Scandinavia is a pretty awesome location, I definitely want to live in that section of the world for some time. We should both help each other with Icelandic.
Yeah, we definitely should! I’m going to email you about that primer right now, too. Thank you so so much!
Tim Gasperak’s photos of Iceland.
I mean. How could you not.
Maybe Graduate School?
theavant-gardeplaylist: I think I’ve made up my mind, I want to live in Iceland. Maybe for Graduate School.
eastling: I may have said this [several, several] times, but I am TOTALLY LIVING IN ICELAND after I graduate. Slowly picking up the language; I even made my Facebook default language Íslensku to help me out. I’m going to visit sometime this summer, too. SO SO EXCITED.
theavant-gardeplaylist: No way!! I’m right now studying Icelandic for my linguistics project. I can tell you now I’ve already fallen in love with it. There’s so many things that come from that country that are absolutely awesome; Sígor Rós, Ólafur Arnalds, beautiful Icelandic women :P. I’m studying abroad in Russia my undergraduate courses. I recently switched my major to Russian. If I make enough money, I’m planning on going to Iceland for graduate school. Slavic and Scandinavian/Norwegian cultures are quite wonderful. I have facebook in Russian too, great minds think alike.
What are you using to learn Icelandic?? I’m desperately trying to find an effective resource, but right now all I have is a hodgepodge of random Icelandic blogs, a really terrible translation site, and an Icelandic-English online dictionary (but it doesn’t work English-Icelandic and I don’t get the grammar AT ALL). I’m thinking about living in Iceland for a while, and then going to grad school in Oslo. Scandinavia is, I think, my favorite corner of the world… possibly because of my own ancestry, haha!
theavant-gardeplaylist: Ólafur ArnaldsYou, sir, have exquisite taste.
Maybe Graduate School?
theavant-gardeplaylist: I think I’ve made up my mind, I want to live in Iceland. Maybe for Graduate School.
I may have said this [several, several] times, but I am TOTALLY LIVING IN ICELAND after I graduate. Slowly picking up the language; I even made my Facebook default language Íslensku to help me out. I’m going to visit sometime this summer, too. SO SO EXCITED.
![Colours of Reykjavik[kenny muir]
Yeah… I’m going to live here.](http://12.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_krn1p6VeiJ1qz7dlvo1_500.jpg)
Colours of Reykjavik
[kenny muir]
Yeah… I’m going to live here.
anastasivictoria: Ég er áhrifamikill til Ísland næstur ár. Ég gera ekki tala the tungumál. Þessi hjartarskinn ekki ómak mig. Ég er tilbúinn til leyfi. Ég vilja gifta a drengur nafndagur Magnus. Við vilja drykkur kaffi. endir…
The fact that I do not speak Icelandic even though I’m moving there does not really bother me. I can say “My name is” and “I would like coffee” and “How are you?” I think that’ll be good for a while. I am excited because people in Iceland absolutely love American movies and television, so I can keep up with things! Ahhh haha.
eastling: You are living my dream right now…
anastasivictoria: You should move there as well if it’s your dream! There are a lot of classes at the University that teach in English, and since the economy crashed it’s a lot cheaper to live there, I think.
I think it’s going to be my graduation present to myself. Every time I think about it, I get sick with excitement… In the meantime, I will be saving money and learning the language.
I can’t wait to read about your time there!!
spaceships: Iceland (via númi)
Yep.
