<
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-09-23/the-history-of-reykjavik-s-iron-and-wood-homes?srnd=citylab>
"For the first-time visitor, Reykjavik is a surprising place. It’s not just the
city’s seasonal extremes of daylight and darkness, the spectacularly changeable
weather or the craggy profile of Mount Esja looming over everything. It’s also
the city’s buildings.
Streets in Reykjavik’s downtown are often lined with rugged, cottage-like
timber-framed houses clad top to bottom in a material that (roofs aside) is
used elsewhere almost exclusively for industrial, non-domestic purposes:
corrugated sheet metal. To someone used to seeing this material reserved for
warehouses or farm buildings, the sight of wall after wall of crinkled iron or
steel creates the impression the Icelandic capital’s heart is made up of really
pretty sheds.
This reflection needn’t belittle either Reykjavik or Iceland’s built
environment. The story of these so-called Icelandic ironclads, developed
between 1880 and 1925, is a remarkable one of resilience and innovation in the
face of difficult living conditions — one not of isolation, but of
globalization. It reflects a country that has been among the world’s first to
enthusiastically embrace practical new ways of building — such as using sheet
metal, concrete and prefabrication — without abandoning care or charm.
This housing’s relative newness still reveals a striking factor that
distinguishes Iceland from the rest of Europe: Though Iceland has been
inhabited for almost 1,200 years, only a modest number of its surviving
domestic buildings predate the late 19th century."
Via
Reasons to be Cheerful:
<
https://reasonstobecheerful.world/what-we-are-reading-bike-maps-offshore-wind/>
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
