Landscape is a multi-layered concept and phenomenon, and as such it has been the subject of a diverse range of disciplines and studies. A broad overview of the different approaches to understanding landscape shows us that there are two basic sides to the concept, which have received differing amounts of attention from those who study it – the two sides in question being firstly landscape as a physical and visible phenomenon, and secondly landscape as the intangible and invisible intertwining of the being that perceives and the phenomenon that is perceived. What follows will be a summation of my thoughts on the interplay of these twinned sides, and how landscape affects us all, both as a concept and as a phenomenon, whether it interacts with us in our daily lives or as a subject of study, in fields such as architecture and design. Much as I did in my piece on beauty for the HA website 1, I wish to begin by examining how the word landscape is used in our day-to-day vocabulary. The initial …

Reykjavik transport hub Hlemmur has been resurrected, reborn into the role it was always meant to assume; that of an indoor market, an essential feature in a city where outdoor activities are infeasible for most of the year. Architect Gunnar Hansson’s distinctive building, once one of Reykjavík’s best-known meeting places for punks and misfits, has undergone renovation and is now a popular food hall, a place where a broad variety of both fresh and prepared food can be found and purchased. Hlemmur square, located in the eastern corner of central Reykjavik, has a long and colourful history. Food has been sold at Hlemmur square for over a century The year 1904 saw the construction of a new house on the lot by 125 Hverfisgata, a house affectionately known as the North Pole (Norðurpóllinn). Food was sold there, mostly to travellers passing through. At the time, the area around Hlemmur was considered the city’s eastern limits, with only a scant few houses standing further east. Travellers to and from the city were consequently frequent visitors, and …

From travel destinations to fishing industry, the controversial new national hospital and the Icelandic Design Awards 2015, in the second issue of HA we take an in-depth look at the best and most interesting stories in the Icelandic design and architecture industry today. We also speak to the Swiss Design Award winner Brynjar Sigurðarson about his quick rise to the top of the international design world. Katrin Olina Pétursdóttir tells about her new project Primitiva, and we speak to the look-a-likes behind the brand new sustainable fashion label Dobbelganger. We also feature our regular columns, including Words of Wisdom with advice from an Icelandic design heavy-weight, this time featuring ceramist Steinunn Marteinsdottir; View from a Distance in which FRAME editor Carmel McNamara looks at the Icelandic design scene and Inspirations, in which jewelry designer Erling Johannesson shares the influences behind his work. If you are a subscriber, the magazine should be delivered to your mailbox in the next few days. It will be available in Eymundsson bookstores all around Iceland and in most design shops in …

Print is dead, long live the print! We at HA magazine love print – we publish it, read it and talk about it all the time. Each month, we will ask a like-minded fellow print enthusiast to share some favourites with us. First up, we talked to graphic designer Hörður Lárusson. Words: Hörður Lárusson. Photos: Rafael Pinho, Viktoria Ivicsics. Other photos: Courtesy of publishers Hörður Lárusson holds a BA in Visual Communication from the Iceland Academy of the Arts. One of the key figures in the Icelandic graphic design today, Lárusson works as an Art Director at Brandenburg. His works have been exhibited widely both in Iceland and abroad, and he has served in numerous juries and boards, including the Iceland Design Centre and DesignMarch boards of directors. You can see Hörður’s work here and here, for example. Here are the books (and posters) that inspire him: Hello I am Erik by Erik Spiekermann It’s the book I’m trying to read these days (but don’t find enough time to do). Not sure yet if it’ll be a book that inspires me, but …

What is beauty? At first glance, it may appear odd to ask such questions – don’t we all already know what beauty is? Guðbjörg R. Jóhannesdóttir, doctor of environmental philosophy, questions what we actually mean when we speak about beauty and aesthetics. Text: Dr. Guðbjörg R. Jóhannesdóttir / Artwork by Elín Hansdóttir We use the word ‘beauty’ frequently and in a variety of different situations: this is a beautiful view, that’s a beautiful sunset, what a beautiful composition, the eruption is beautiful, this is beautifully designed, that’s a beautiful thought, it was a beautiful moment, that’s a beautiful thing to do. But what do we mean when say something is beautiful? Most will no doubt assume beauty to be something relative and subjective; “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” and all that. This would define beauty to be a matter of taste: what I find beautiful, someone else might deem ugly. Some might say that beauty lies within certain objective qualities, an ideal shape and dimension, for instance the golden ratio. This idea …