PREFAB / FORSMÍÐ

Skaftfell gallery, September 26 – December 20, 2020.

Opening times: Mon – Fri, 12:00 – 18:00. Sat – Sun 15:00 – 18:00.

Curator: Guja Dögg Hauksdóttir, Advisor: Gavin Morrison

Opening reception: September 26, 2020, 14:00 – 18:00.

Light refreshments and short guided tours will be offered throughout the afternoon. Due to Covid regulations and the nature of the exhibition only 25 people can be in the gallery at the same time, but to accommodate everyone we have expanded the opening time across the afternoon. We kindly ask visitors to keep a 1m distance from each other and to sprit their hands before entering the gallery.

 

Prefabricated houses and artistic expression from one century to another

Prefabricated architecture, that is buildings constructed in a factory and transported to be assembled on-site, has been fundamental to the development of the urban fabric of Seyðisfjörður. The exhibition PREFAB / FORSMÍÐ will consider three examples of European prefabricated housing as a means to reflect on the ways in which architecture determines how we live, and to invite reflection on what types of prefabricated housing is suitable for the future. 

The exhibition will use three examples of different types of prefabricated architecture from the 1800s to the present day. Each example approaches architecture in a different way. The first example is one of the timber catalogue houses from the late 1800s which were constructed in factories in Norway, dismantled and then re-built in Seyðisfjörður. The second is the 1951 holiday cabin which the modernist architect Le Corbusier (1887-1965) designed for himself. It was built by a carpentry firm in Corsica and transported to its site at Roquebrune-Cap-Martin on the Cote-d’azure, France. The third project is the Nest system by the Oslo based contemporary practice Rintala Eggertsson Architects, founded by Sami Rintala and Dagur Eggertsson. Nest was developed in 2016 with a view to the migrant crisis and to explore the possibility of providing quality housing to families and individuals in the most dire situation.

To emphasize the aesthetic approach on the matter, the architecture installations will be put into atmospheric dialog with new artwork by three contemporary artists: Waterwork (Vatnaverk, 2020) by María Sjöfn Dupuis Davíðsdóttir, My hand, your hand (Mín hönd, þín hönd, 2019) by Ingunn Fjóla Ingþórsdóttir, and Sparkle (Glit, 2020) by Arnór Kári Egilsson.   

Guja Dögg Hauksdóttir

 

In connection to the exhibition, Skaftfell and Guja Dögg have developed an art education project for primary school and high school students in East Iceland. The program is part of BRAS (Children’s Culture Festival) and List fyrir alla (Art for all).

 

Photos: © Pasi Aalto – Rintala Eggertsson Architects; © Ljósmyndasafn Reykjavíkur