The document describes an empty concrete structure standing in an area filled with life, culture and activity. By giving the structure a new public function like a bathhouse, it takes on a new role and activates a part of the building, inviting more activities. This adds a new element that can easily adapt to the rough concrete and be enjoyed by all in an unexpected way. In a few easy steps, an unused structure is transformed into something that enriches the neighborhood.

1. 1
- The Fishermans Bath-

3. Fish industries
Trawlers
Fisherman’s café
S o n g S c h ool
F i s h in g s h o p s F i s h re s t a u r a n t
Smaller fishing boats coming and
Maritime going when weather is good for
museum fishing
C re a t i v e o f f i c e s
café old boat
C o n c re t e skeleton
- T h e F i s h e rmans Bath -
Empty site
previously planned residential
Small T h e a t re
Ship-yard
A n o l d e r re s i d e ntial
neighbourhood
Af
ive
minu
te walk Situation plan
to the
city c
en
ter 1:1000

4. In an area filled with By giving it a new ...and by activating a part
life, culture and meaning in life by of this building it invites
activity a big concrete adding a public to more activities filling
skeleton stands quiet in function it takes on a the rest of it.
the middle. new roll....

5. Site & Concept
Several architectural competitions have been held in regards to development in this area where the shipyard would be removed and the area
made into a residential harbour district.
The fantastic “inbetween phase”
But in the “inbetween” face of all this planning it has gotten a program that has somehow grown by itself...
a c r o o k e d f i s h e r m a n s c a f é , c r e a t i v e o ff i c e s a n d a c a f é i n a n o l d e r b u i l d i n g , a m a r i t i m e m u s e u m , a l i t t l e t h e a t r e , a s o n g s c h o o l a n d t h e
shipyard which still stands there with all the activity that follows.
And in the middle of all of this a concrete skeleton stands as a reminder of what was supposed to become.
Putting some meat on the bones
I would like to add a new element to this fantastic program by activating a part of the concrete skeleton and the building site. Not a huge
project. Just enough to get some meat on the bones.
...............something that easily can adapt to the rough concrete structure
...............something for everyone to enjoy
...............something unexpected
A little bathouse!

6. Wet well-bei n g A typical bathing facility in Reykjavík / Iceland consists of a swimming
pool, childrens pool a sauna, dressing rooms and some hot tubs.
There are 20 swimming pools in the Greater Reykjavík area. Almost all are
outdoors.
In Reykjavík nearly all of the water comes directly from the ground where
it heats up through geothermal energy. It is clean and used as it is and the
abundance of it makes it a cheap alternative in energy use.
T h e I c e l a n ders have been making use of their hot water since the island was s e t t l e d . Av e r a g e s i z e s w i m m i n g p o o l ( 2 5 m ) u s e s a s m u c h w a t e r a s 8 0 - 1 0 0 r e s i d e n t i a l h o u s e s a n u a l l y.
T h e I c e l a n dic hot-tubs are made by ancient role models, the natural hot spri n g s , a n d t h e f i r s t o n e w a s o p e n e d
in 1962. E a c h r e s i d e n t u s e s a r o u n d 1 0 0 0 l o f ho t w a t e r a n d 2 2 0 l c o l d w a t e r e v e r y 2 4 h r s . ( m o s t g o e s t o h o u s e h e a t i n g )
I n t h i s c o l d climate these pools and hot tubs are well used by the people of R e y k j a v í k w h o a v e r a g e l y v i s i t t h e
p o o l 1 5 t i mes a year. Many go on a regular basis and some every day and th e h o t t u b s a r e a c o l o r f u l a r e n a o f There are 170 swimming pools in Iceland. One for every 1900 residents.
o f t e n h e a t e d discussions.
Bathing is essential for any man. It is equally important to wash the whole body, as washing the face and hands, as any
civilized man does on a daily basis. Reykjavík Bath House is a much needed institution that no one will object to it
receiving a considerable sum from the council budget annually. (Reykjavík bathhouse 1905-1966)
— Morgunblaðið, The Morning Newspaper, 20th of march 1917

7. Ways of keep i n g
w arm in Icela n d
Dressing in wool...
Going for a blood
pumping hike into the
mountains...
Enjoying Geothermal
Power

8. dressing rooms
bath drying room-warm floor entrance
outside baths + entrance baths
sauna
little hot dark sauna
Program diagram from section a-a
a
a
Bathouse creates access to concrete skeleton activating
it and making a new movement through it.
a
a
Possibility of expanding bath-house to the sea.

9. Reusing Materials Making use of what´s lying around.
There are materials lying around building
sites all over the city.
Most contractors have gone bankrupt and
now the government/banks owns much of
this material.
Much of this could be “harvested” for
another use than originally intended.
Main frame structure
Steel frame bolted or welded at intersections.
A solid structure that can stand independently
or with a little help from an existing bearing
structure.
It can serve as walls-floors-roof.
Fill ins
T h e f r a m e s c a n b e f i l l e d w i t h d i ff e r e n t k i n d o f m a t e r i a l s .
Glass or plastic for letting in light.
Formwork plates are exellent fill in material, strong,
everlasting and covering.
Pure structural Half covering Fully covered
-dressing room -saunas

10. Sketch models
Transparency
Threading
Light emitting materials
A new structure - parasite

11. Section a-a

12. 2
-The Aw e s o m e A l l e y -

13. A luxury apartment house is built very close to an
old boat house that once housed a restaurant.
The 24 ready built luxury apartments stand
e m p t y.
The restaurant is for rent.

15. A tiny ca f é w ith o ne ta b le ou ts ide
C ity librar y
Conte mpor ar y a r t muse um
A n ad ven turous knitting s tor e a nd a ga ller y bo u ti que
A fish re sta ura nt a nd a sm a ll m us e um
T h e o ldes t pa rt o f the c ity c e ntre
Th e K olap ort m ark e t hal l

16. In the new luxury apartment house a hole exists in the facade leading to the street, showing a
glimpse of the old boathouse in the back....
There is a little passage to the alley between these two houses, the old and the new one, that both
stand empty and waiting for somebody to fill them with life....
One starts to wonder what the alley could hold.... it could be the most wonderful space filled
with color and happenings.....
It could be AWESOME.

18. -The M e e t P o i n t - m a r k e t -

20. New icon - Harpa
The New Music House
Toll House
Market Hall
Reykjavík Harbour
Cruise Ship Pier
Local icon
The Hot Dog Shack
City centre
B u s y t r a ff i c s t r e e t

21. A new connection is made
between the harbour and
the city centre.

22. In the middle of th e 2 0 t h c e n t u r y i t w a s h u g e l y p o p u l a r t o h a v e a c o l o n i a l g a r d e n o n t h e o u t s k i r t s o f t o w n . H e r e t h e r i c h
and the poor stoo d s i d e b y s i d e a n d p l a n t e d p o t a t o e s a n d c a b b a g e a n d s t a y e d i n t h e i r l i t t l e c o l o n i a l h u t s o v e r w e e k e n d s .
But soon the growing city took over and these colonial gardens disappeared.
Now, with all the empty space, even right in the city
centre, it is time to revive a good thing.

23. The market spreads out of it´s closed market hall and over the
street towards the sea and the new music house......

24. 5
-The H e a r t S q u a r e -

25. Between two busy streets in the city centre I find a site that looks like it was born after the crash.

26. ...I had discovered the heart square.

27. An empty + closed off A path is paved ove r t h e s i t e Grass plane planted. Benches and lighting set up.
building site in the city between two busy s t r e e t s .
centre.
Artists invited to decorate Old birch trees get t o l i v e . A heart is paved in the ...and after a few of days a
walls. middle of the space. little colorful square is born.

28. In few easy steps the site became
a place where you can
s it d o w n a n d w i g g l e y o u r t o e s
f il l t h e w a l l s w i t h c o l o u r
sell your old toys
p la y y o u r m u s i c
l oo k u p t h r o u g h t h e b i r c h t r e e s
v is i t a c h r i s t m a s m a r k e t
a nd j u s t e n j o y l i f e . . . .

31. -The viable v i e w -
6

32. Rising high
A high rise block structure rises between the sea
and the low rise city centre.
Laying low
This leads to no physical and little visual
contact between the city and the sea.
Public agenda
Instead of being a barrier the high-rises invite
y o u u p t o h i g h e r g r o u n d a n d s h a r e t h e i r v i e w.
T h i s c o u l d b e d o n e w i t h o ff e r i n g p u b l i c
programs in the vacant spaces.

35. Building high is a good way of maximizing land use and
densifying cities.
I n R e y k j a v í k a p l a n w a s m a d e t o b u i l d h i g h r i s e re s i d e n t i a l
housing with expensive luxury apartments as well as high rise
office buildings.
N o w t h e s e b u i l d i n g s s t a n d u n f i n i s h e d a n d e m p t y, p r o g r a m m e d t o
f u l f i l l n e e d s t h a t d o n o t s u i t t o d a y ’s s o c i e t y.
When left empty a high-rise is a very prominent reminder of a plan
gone wrong

38. Viable
World English Dictionary
viable (ˈvaɪəb ə l)
— adj
1. capable of becoming actual, useful, etc; practicable: a viable proposition
2. (of seeds, eggs, etc) capable of normal growth and development
3. (of a fetus) havi n g r e a c h e d a s t a g e o f d e v e l o p m e n t w h e r e f u r t h e r d e v e l o p m e n t c a n o c c u r i n d e p e n d e n tl y o f t h e m o t h e r

39. -The He a l i n g H o l e -

40. A hole b e t w e e n t w o h o u s e s . I n s i d e i t a l o w - r i s e c o m m e r c i a l b u i l i n g w a s p l a n n e d , m e a n t t o m a k e t h e s t r e e t a b e t t e r
place. A small project but yet it was cancelled.

41. What can be done so this hole could start to heal?

43. P e o p l e u n c o n c i o u s l y w a l k f a s t e r pa s t t h e h i g h ,
f e n c e d o ff s i t e t h a n p a s t t h e s h o p p i n g w i n d o w s .
A quick sketch was made with some balloons that
were hung on the wall...
1:1
It was interesting to see what a little
bit of color and movement can do.
P e o p l e w a t c h e d c u r i o u s l y.
They took a balloon.
The stopped and poked.
Some stopped for a second and
looked around to see if something
else was happening.

45. In front In back Right in the middle
Today the most active movement is ...th e r e s i d e n t i a l a r e a i n t h e b a c k i s Opening the closed site creates a new possibility
outside the site, in the shopping street. more q u i e t b u t y e t a n e i g h b o u r h o o d in the area for an active common space that could
There is continuous movement of cars popu l a t e d b y p e o p l e w h o l o v e b e i n g both be used by the visitors of the shopping street
and people. clos e t o t h e a c t i v e l i f e o f t h e c i t y as well as residents from the surrounding area.
centre. This could be a much needed playground.

47. - The Emerging Park-

48. A big, empty building site

49. An empty bu i l d i n g s i t e b a r r e d o ff A path is created between Behind closed walls new And after they finish
with high f e n c e s a l l a r o u n d . two parallel streets. elements are being created. they are made public.
More elements appear over time... when n e e d e d . . . w h e n More and more space opens up ....and slowly but surely a
someone wants it bad enough....if there´ s s o m e m o n e y. . . . p a r k e m e rg e s .

51. 9
-The Wan n a b e H o t e l -

53. On an old factory lot stands an older concrete building
I t ´ s t h e o n l y t h i n g l e f t s t a n d i n g o n a b i g em p t y p l o t .
C l o s e t o t h e I c e l a n d i c A r t A c a d e m y, t h e b u s t e r m i n a l a n d c i t y c e n t r e .
Stands in an area which is a mix of older residential and commercial buildings with
d i ff e r e n t k i n d s o f b u s i n e s s e s .
The remains of an old facade
becomes a gateway into a new structure.

55. A planned 100 room hotel The facade of an old house It now becomes the new
stands alone and unfinished. - a reminder of what was facade of this empty concrete
It´s an older concrete house before. strucutre.
with new additi on on top.
Opening up to a public And if enough money is ...the ball starts to roll...and
program on the first floor. A earned a room is fixed up and over time a hotel is born.
little knitting café perhaps.... leased out as a hotel room.
There are no other cafés
around...

58. 1 0
- The Hot Spot Highrise -

60. What do you see from
the top of an Icelandic
skyscraper?
Volcanos!

61. A lonely skys c r a p e r
A s k y s c r a p e r i s a t a l l , c o n tinuously habitable
b u i l d i n g . T h e r e i s n o o ff i cial definition or height
a b o v e w h i c h a b u i l d i n g m ay clearly be classified
a s a s k y s c r a p e r. M o s t c i t i es define the term
e m p i r i c a l l y ; e v e n a b u i l d i ng of 80 meters (262
f e e t ) m a y b e c o n s i d e r e d a skyscraper if it protrudes
a b o v e i t s b u i l t e n v i r o n m e nt and changes the overall
skyline
wikipedia.com
T h e c u r r e n t l y h i g h e s t s k y scraper in the world is the
Burj Dubai 818 m tall.
W h e n i t c o m e s t o s k y s c r a per, the Icelandic
s k y s c r a p e r i s n o t s o v e r y high. It is 16-20 story tall
a n d s t a n d s w a y h i g h e r t h a n the rest of the low rise
city structure .
T h e t r e n d o f b u i l d i n g s k y scrapers in Reykjavík is
n e w a n d t h e r e a r e n o t m a ny of them. The recession
put an end to that.
The Höfðatorg Skyscraper is the tallest Occupied Occupied Empty Being furnished for The skyscraper
one in the city rising 65 meters high. -Fast food -Lawfirms lease today
Only the tower of the Hallgrims-
Church is higher, around 80 m. high.
S k e t c h diagrams of building and site

62. From down to UP making a public access
The Hengil Area-An active v o l c a n o c o v e r i n g 1 0 0 k m 2
The Skyscraper Adding a new structure Creating a new movement
on a n d through a n e x i s t i n g
building
Hallgrímskirkja - Reykjavík’s tallest building

63. E nemies of th e s k y s c r a p e r
The s k y s c r a p e r w a s o r i g i n a l l y m e a n t t o b e a
comp l e x o f 6 h i g h - r i s e b u s i n e s s / r e s i d e n t i a l
build i n g s . B u t i n s t e a d o f b e c o m i n g a p a r t o f t h e
nearb y b u s i n e s s d i s t r i c t i t t o w e r s o v e r a s m a l l e r
reside n t i a l a r e .
The residents protested profoundly
against these high rise building plans
but they were unheard and one of the
high-rises rose.
Then c a m e t h e r e c e s s i o n a n d n o m o r e h i g h r i s e s
were b u i l t . S o t h i s o n e s t a n d s a l o n e a n d w a t c h e s
over t h e n e i g h b o r h o o d .
The r e s i d e n t s s a y t h a t i t h a s g o t t e n w i n d i e r a n d
some l o s t t h e e v e n i n g s u n .
- Giv i n g t h e t o w e r a m o r e p u b l i c f a c a d e a n d a
more o p e n p r o g r a m w o u l d c h a n g e t h e e ff e c t i t has
on it´ s s u r r o u n d i n gs .
- The n e i g h b o r s c o u l d g e t t h e i r o w n p r i v a t e p a r k
on th e t o p o f t h e l i t t l e t o w e r, w h e r e t h e y c a n l o ok
over t h e i r n e i g h b o rh o o d . my roof needs
fixing.

64. L i ving with v o l c a n o s
and sharing the experience
HOT SPOT HOT SPOT HIGHRISE
Icelan d i s o n e o f t h e m o s t a c t i v e v o l c a n i c r e g i o n s in You can get used to everything. Even living with highly
the wo r l d , w i t h e r u p t i o n s o c c u r r i n g o n a v e r a g e r oughly active volcanos. So maybe you forget how fantastic it
every t h r e e y e a r s . T h e r e a r e 1 3 2 v o l c a n o s i n I c e l and really is....
and 40 o f t h e m a r e a c t i v e .
You are reminded once in a while when the earth
The la t e s t e r u p t i o n w a s a h u g e e r u p t i o n i n E y j a f j alla- shakes or a mountain explodes. But in between, life
glacier t h e s p r i n g o f 2 0 1 0 . I t c a u s e d g r e a t g l o b a l goes on as usual.
proble m s f o r t h e f l i g h t i n d u s t r y a s w e l l a s t r e m e ndous
financi a l a n d e n v i r o m e n t a l p r o b l e m s f o r t h e I c e l anders. There are no volcano museums in Reykjavík. It could
be a new place for the locals to learn more about what
In geo l o g y, a h o t s p o t o r h o t s p o t i s a p o r t i o n o f the they are living with as well as an amazing place of
Earth’s s u r f a c e t h a t m a y b e f a r f r o m t e c t o n i c p l a te discovery for the tourists.
bounda r i e s a n d t h a t e x p e r i e n c e s v o l c a n i s m d u e t o a
rising m a n t l e p l u m e o r s o m e o t h e r c a u s e It would give the tallest high-rise in Reykjavík a new
and more public role.
The
The Ic e l a n d h o t s p o t i s a h o t s p o t w h i c h i s p a r t l y
respon s i b l e f o r t h e h i g h v o l c a n i c a c t i v i t y w h i c h has
formed t h e i s l a n d o f I c e l a n d .
+ = Hot
Spot
Highrise

65. A growing str u c t u r e
a new el e m e n t the new element has Linked to other Making use of parts More elements -
is added o n a n a p u b l i c f u n c t i o n. elements by an o f e x i s t i n g. interiour access
existing s t r u c t u r e e x t e r i o r a c c e s s.
The new program is a tenant of an existing building.........
Vi e w p o i n t
Exhibion
Exhibion
Library
Roof park
Cafe
Current Situation Scenario Future scenario
A half-used highrise The Hot Spot Highrise More elements can be added/
taken away according to need

67. Structural elements
using existing structure as a basis for the new one
Concrete
Windows moved from frames to make Steel beams are fastened under
slab
way for a new structure. existing slab.
Bearing
walls
New floor constructed Stair system fastened onto floor and
beams.
Bearing
columns
Existing
New structure uses bearing forces from
existing structure.
New facade
strucutre

68. Th e m u s e u m s t r u c t u r e . B o x e s a n d s t a i r c a s e s Section
1:100
Exp e r i e n c i n g a n u r ban volcanic eruption Learning abou t t h e f o r c e o f t h e m o u n t a i n s Loving the lava Going over more levels