History of Hafn­arhús

Hafnarhús is located by the old harbour in the oldest part of Reykjavík, where the earliest wharf and old moorings lay. The building was designed by one of the pioneers of Icelandic architecture, architect Sigurður Guðmundsson, in collaboration with harbour master Þórarinn Kristjánsson in 1933-39, and expanded in 1957-58. It was subsequently renovated by the Studio Granda architectural firm in 1998-2000 to house the activities of the Reykjavik Art Museum. Hafnarhús houses works from the collection of the artist Erró, from his generous bequest of artworks and books to the city of Reykjavík, and also hosts a variety of contemporary art exhibitions.

Originally built as an office and warehouse for the Port of Reykjavík, Hafnarhús was built in several stages on a large landfill that was created in 1913-17. In its day, Hafnarhús was one of the largest buildings in Iceland and great care was taken in it construction. Its design bears the hallmarks of the international modernist style that developed in the interwar period in Central Europe, notably in the well-known German Bauhaus School. In 1998 an architectural competition was held for designs to renovate the building for the Reykjavik Art Museum, which had a growing need for space, not least to be able to house Erró’s magnanimous 1989 art bequest, and the museum was formally opened in April 2000, when Reykjavík was one of nine cities designated as European Capitals of Culture.

In their award-winning proposal, Margrét Harðardóttir and Steve Christer of the Studio Granda architectural firm used the history of the location as their starting point. To the south, up from the wooden wharf that lay where Hafnarhús now stands, the Wharf Building (Bryggjuhúsið) on Vesturgata functioned as Reykjavík's formal city gate, but for a long time an open walkway led straight through the 1862 Wharf Building, as free public access to the wharf had been mandated by the building permit. The Wharf Building has been altered over the years and in 1927 the walkway was closed, but remnants of the ancient stonework at the end of the wharf are still visible on the northern side of the building. The locale’s importance to Reykjavík is reflected in the fact that the city’s street-numbering radiate from this spot.

The memory of the old wharf was revived in the renovation of Hafnarhús by means of an axis that cuts diagonally through the old building, reopening the connection to the harbour and the sea. In a new way, the main entrance and central artery of the museum therefore point to the vanished city gate and the city’s old lifeline to the greater world.

The original function of Hafnarhús as an industrial space is reflected in its outward aspect, in that the building is relatively closed to the outside. In accordance with the international modernist style, the building embraces the streamlined formal language of cruise ships and airplanes, abstaining from ornamentation and emphasising the building’s function and the interplay of horizontal and vertical lines, as can be seen in the pronounced lines around the windows, highlighting their external arrangement in a horizontal border and, on the north wall, in vertical bay windows. Large truck bays on the east and west sides, testifying to past vehicular traffic right through the building, were let stand in renovations along with other original doors at street level, providing an unusual viewing opportunity directly from the street into one of the museum’s largest exhibition halls. The current use of the building is underscored by painted panels in white or grey, and the art museum’s main entrance is cut into the south face, where a concrete awning, carefully angled over glass doors, arrests the eye. From the entrance, the line of vision runs directly along the corridor to the harbour beyond.

A concourse floored with hardwood boards leads through the building from the lobby, creating a rather narrow space that opens upward toward the next level. The walls and original weight-bearing columns are clad in rough-rolled steel, making a striking impression, reminiscent of rough-and-tumble modern shipyards. Flights of stairs leading upward do not touch the wooden concourse but rather hang from the concrete floor of the next level, encased in walls that are polished smooth, painted white, and slightly, almost imperceptibly curved. The complexity of the visual impression is deepened by the possibility of opening the steel walls along the walkway, onto the inner courtyard of the building. The space can be partially or completely transformed and its horizontal or vertical lines emphasised at will to, for example, open it to the sky from the court yard or, in the other direction, onto a multipurpose hall. Studio Granda’s play with old and new, rough and delicate, direct and indirect light results in a highly unusual atmosphere in the six exhibition halls on either side of the inner courtyard, each of which juxtaposes the building’s history and contemporary art in its own way, with white walls or raw concrete, or the square or octagonal support columns of the structure’s underlying grid. The museum's cafe is located at the end of the pier axis on the second floor with a view of the entrance to Reykjavík Harbour, which offers ever-changing live images of the ships, sea and mountains on the horizon.

Awards Icelandic Environmental Services Association Award (2001). Nominated for the Blueprint Architecture Awards ‘Best Public Building Refurbishment’ (2001). European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Award (2001). Recognition for outstanding design for accessibility, Sjálfsbjörg, the National Confederation of Physically Disabled People (2000).

Architects Master Builder Sigurður Guðmundsson (1885-1958) was a seminal figure in Icelandic architecture. Following in the footsteps of architect Guðjón Samúelsson, Sigurður studied at the Royal Danish Academy in Copenhagen from 1915 to 1925. Although he never completed his degree, he was nonetheless one of the most influential spokesmen in Iceland for new currents in architecture, ranging from Nordic Classicism to Functionalism and Modernism, with an emphasis on simple and artistic form. Sigurður founded the first privately-run architectural firm in Iceland, in which many of Iceland’s most prominent architects got their starts.

Majors works: Primary school Barnaskóli Austurbæjar (1924-30). Grund nursing home (1932-34). Garður, university housing on Hringbraut (1932-34). Hafnarhús at Tryggvagata 17, now part of the Reykjavik Art Museum (1933-39 and 1957-58). Studio for sculptor Ásmundur Sveinsson, now Ásmundarsalur at Freyjugata 41 (1933-35). Station house, the Ljósafoss hydroelectric plant (1935-37). Merchant Marine Academy of Reykjavík (1942-45). National Museum of Iceland (1945-52). Private residences at Ásvallagata 14 (1928), Laufásvegur 70 (1927) and 75 (1929), Freyjugata 41 (1933), Garðastræti 41 (1929), Smáragata 16 (1931), Sóleyargata 11 (1931) and 29 (1932), and Freyjugata 46 (1931).

Studio Granda is one of the best-known architectural firms in Iceland. It was founded in 1987 by architects Margrét Harðardóttir (1960-) and Steve Christer (1959-), both graduates from the London Architectural Association School of Architecture. Studio Granda has attracted attention in the international arena for bold and discerning work that conveys strong ties to Icelandic culture and landscape while at the same time incorporating themes from the history of international architecture from Greek antiquity to Nordic modernism. The firm’s accolades include the Icelandic Visual Arts Award, the Nordic Award for Sheet Metal in Architecture, nominations for the Mies van der Rohe Award and the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture, and listing of their work in the Phaidon Atlas of Contemporary World Architecture. Studio Granda was nominated for the esteemed Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2002.

Majors works: Reykjavík City Hall (1987-92). Supreme Court of Iceland building (1993-96). Höfðabakki Bridge (1994). Reykjavík Art Museum, Hafnarhús, renovation (1998-2000). Private residence at Skrúðás (2000-04). Bifröst School of Business, including the main building, campus layout, and research centre etc. (2001-07).Primary school extensions, Laugalækjarskóli (2001). Vogaskóli (2005-07). Hof country residence at Höfðaströnd (2003-07).

Text by Guja Dögg Hauksdóttir, former head of Architecture Department, Reykjavik Art Museum (2009).