"Harpa, Húsið þitt"

This is the slogan on the publicity materials about Harpa, the beautiful, recently opened concert hall in Reykjavík. It reflects the hope of the designers that Icelanders will see it as "your house"--which it is, since the financing of the building was taken over by the public after the financial crisis. The building of course was controversial in the wake of the crisis, given the expense of such a project. But the artist, Ólafur Elíasson, expressed his hope that the building be seen as belonging to the Icelandic people in a recent extended and very interesting interview with the English language newspaper The Grapevine.  It is a slogan that our two year old has taken to heart; whenever we are downtown, he has expressed his desire to "Harpa, go!"


Like everyone in Reykjavík, we have been watching the construction of Harpa since our arrival in January.  Of course the structure by then was basically completed, though this spring we have had the additional excitement of the facade needing replacement (on which, see the Grapevine story noted above). Harpa construction has had everything that a two year old could want: cranes! diggers! dump trucks!  And so we have been frequent visitors to the exterior of the Harpa building site, even before the building opened in May.  

January 2011 viewed from Arnarhóll

January 2011

March 8, 2011

May 1, 2011.  Yes, that is snow on the ground.
We were sledding on the hill.

We have now been to two lovely concerts, one in Eldborg, the main hall, and one in Kaldalón.  And we have been in the building many more times; it has wide hallways with fun places to sit, it has a great view of the harbor, the light is wonderful, always changing, and it has escalators!

Riding the escalator June 16.

May 13, 2011

May 13 2011.

The first concerts were May 4th through 6th, and the official inaugural concerts were the next weekend, May 13th through 15th.  On May 6, right after a concert, my husband visited the building, and the security guards let him look around, no problem.  But on May 13th, a few hours before the official inaugural concert, we tried to visit and were turned away at the door by security.  Evidently there was heightened security since some rather unpopular people including the original financier behind Harpa, which entity failed as a result of the financial crisis, were going to be present at the concert, according to this post on the Iceland Weather Report.  We still enjoyed looking around the outside of the building, though it was a bit disconcerting that there were so many heavy machines still doing their work.

The west side with a view of the boats.

But since then, we have been in the building and enjoyed its beauty and light, and the continuing presence of construction equipment, many times.  Yesterday, during Iceland's national independence day celebrations (Þjóðhátíðardagur), we were among the many people who went into the building just to see it and enjoy it. Feeling a part of the process of Harpa opening has been a lovely part of our experience here. So we hope the space and all that it will be as people enjoy it over time truly comes to be seen as the house that belongs to all of the people of Iceland.

Looking up from near the first floor stairway.

There are places to splash out front!

It must be Þjóðhátíðardagur
 if there are antique cars.

Nice places to relax in the
midst of celebrating June 17. 

The cafe has a children's table, of course.

And there is still plenty of construction equipment to see.

The Blue Hand

Last Monday (before we bought the car) my husband and young son were on their way to a meeting at Neskirkja, and had just missed the bus by a few minutes.  They started walking, and as they did, Jim waved to a passing car.  The driver stopped and offered a ride which Jim accepted.  They had a pleasant conversation about the neighborhood and living and working in Reykjavik, such as strangers might have. When the driver dropped them off at the university, Jim thanked the driver, again gave his and our son's names, and asked the driver his name.  The driver replied with surprise, "You mean you don't know me?"  He then proceeded to tell Jim that he was Davið, that he was the former mayor of Reykjavík and former prime minister, and that he was internationally known.  Jim replied, "Oh, you're that Davið," (which seemed to amuse the driver) and thanked him for the ride.


If you are an Icelandic citizen, or someone who has been paying attention to Icelandic politics, you know that this was Davið Oddsson, former prime minister from the Independence Party, who was PM at the time the banks were privatized in the 1990s and was in charge of the central bank of Iceland at the time of the financial collapse.  One Icelander said to us that he is easily the most hated politician in all of Iceland (which is saying a lot as the approval rating for politicians is hovering around 10 percent).  Many see him as primarily responsible for the financial crisis (here's a London Times article from right after the crisis that makes this claim), a charge which he denies. But other Icelanders have said that at the time he was in office, he was both hated and loved and was a charismatic conservative leader.  He does indeed live in our neighborhood.  And he was on his way to his job as editor of Morgunblaðið, the conservative newspaper.  He was (controversially) appointed to that position less than a year after the financial collapse.  (At the same press conference that his editorship was announced the paper announced that it was laying off about 40 staff members).  The paper regularly criticizes the current left democratic government. 


So, Davið had offered a ride to one of the very few residents of Reykjavík who did not instantly recognize his face:

It's taken me a week to write about this very funny incident because I have been thinking about what the "takeaway" is from this story.  It is clear there are several.

The University of Iceland's Strategic Plan

On Thursday, March 17, I attended a presentation for international staff of the University of Iceland (in English) about the University's new five-year strategic plan.  The plan is available on the university web site here (it's a pdf file).  The university has just finished its previous five year plan for 2006 to 2011; obviously a few things have changed in the Icelandic context since then!  The time frame was partly designated because the university is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. Below is a photo of the Main Building which the university moved to in 1940; it's also the building where I teach my class.

I have been affiliated with universities for more than twenty years now, long enough to have a healthy skepticism about official pronouncements of strategic plans.  But I find this one interesting.

According to the presenter, Jón Atli Benediktsson, who is Pro-Rector of Academic Affairs and who headed the committee for both strategic plans, the University continued to implement its goals from the previous strategic plan, and provide reports to the Alþing, despite the fact that the strategic plan ceased to be funded after the financial crisis in 2008. The university met most of its goals, many of which had to do with improving their status as a research institution, particularly with more outside funding for research, more faculty publications, and more graduate students.