Innsetning í borg - Steinunn Eik Egilsdóttir

When I started this project I was very intent on making a densely populated area with small houses, people living very close to each other and bringing more life to the area by gathering people together. I kept that idea in my mind during the course and the outcome is a reorganized neighbourhood between Lindargata, Vitatorg, Hverfisgata and Frakkastígur.

Below is a part of my research. I was looking for something joyful, cosy and dense – and something that would make you smile. These pictures are from Croatia, Italy, India and Mexico. I can say that the photo of the M&M chocolate candy was the one that inspirited me the most. It represents joy, flow and something tasty! I wanted to design buildings that would pop up in the environment, but still be part of the whole picture – not far away from what is happening in the umbrella picture. 

As you can see on the diagram, tight paths cover the square like a net, so you are almost like slipping between the buildings. Most of the buildings are residential. I decided to split the square in two parts by making an axis from Hverfisgata down to Lindargata. The houses around the public yard are all public. They are for example offices, a child care and shops.
I wanted to make a clear connection to the street by using some architectural elements. I took different windows from all the houses on Hverfisgata and placed them on mine. I also used the roof lines from Hverfisgata. I didn’t really copy the roofs. What I did was I took some roof lines facing Hverfisgata and placed them on one site of each house. Then I kind of dragged them over the houses, so I’m using the roofs from Hverfisgata in a rather abstract way. I also placed roof lines between the houses. Thereby I’m creating more connection between the houses. These roof lines will function as lampposts, to hang something on it at special event and for vegetations. It also brings a fairy tale feeling on the project.

The difference in height between Hverfisgata and Lindargata is two meters. When I shaped the land I made three height levels. Some of the houses are placed on two levels with staircases on both sides. The brown colour on the concrete around the houses is their private space where they can keep bicycles, grills and such stuff. Even though the area is now very dense, there are many ways to travel through it and it has all together twelve openings.

If you look at the street scene you can see there is just one new house facing the street. I did that to make people curious about what they were about to see if they would go into the area. I also thought original street scene had one unfinished block.