ICELANDIC TIMES - Land og saga
ICELANDIC TIMES - Land og saga
ICELANDIC TIMES - Land og saga
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Kraum’s selection ranges from small decorative ornaments to practical clothing to full-sized furniture. Photos: Ingo<br />
Kraum – a Paradise for Design Lovers<br />
While walking in downtown Reykjavik,<br />
you will probably notice an abundance of<br />
energetic design products represented<br />
in a wide variety of design shops. If you<br />
visit the oldest quarter of the town,<br />
beginning in Aðalstræti, you will find<br />
a design store that fully represents the<br />
bloom of Icelandic design, as you can<br />
find products from no fewer than 200<br />
designers in the store Kraum.<br />
Kraum is actually located in the oldest standing<br />
house in Reykjavik, built in 1762 by Skúli Magnússon,<br />
a prominent figure in the history of Iceland as a<br />
pioneer of industrialization. He is sometimes called<br />
the father of Reykjavik as historians argue that<br />
Reykjavik would not have become the capital of<br />
Iceland if it had not been for Skúli’s enterprise.<br />
Walking down Austurstræti from Lækjartorg you<br />
will pass the more modern square of Ingólfstorg<br />
on your way to Kraum. There, this oldest house<br />
of Iceland will lay before you on the right side,<br />
a black little house right next to some taller and<br />
newer buildings. To enter the store you will go to<br />
the right, up a small and charming road leading<br />
to the “Grjótaþorpið,” a small, uphill area, where<br />
most of Reykjavik’s oldest houses stand. Behind<br />
the black house you will notice a connecting annex<br />
made of glass, and then a newer extension to Skúli’s<br />
old house. Enter the annex and enjoy the hidden<br />
treasures you will find in Kraum.<br />
12<br />
The results of a design competition in the spirit<br />
of the sculptor Ásmundur Sveinsson were<br />
recently announced. This competition was held in<br />
collaboration with the Reykjavík Art Museum and<br />
the winning design was a 3D puzzle by the name<br />
“My Ásmundur.” This design as well as few others<br />
will be on offer both in Kraum and in the Reykjavik<br />
Art Museum. “We had all sorts of different designs<br />
in this competition, first of all the spectacular<br />
puzzle, a clock, a vase and many more. Those<br />
objects are certainly going to fit well with the rest<br />
of the products in the store,” says Halla B<strong>og</strong>adóttir<br />
the owner of Kraum. Kraum’s selection of design<br />
products, range from small decorative ornaments<br />
to practical clothing to full-sized furniture. In<br />
between, one can find clothing, glasses, bowls,<br />
hangers and many more objects,<br />
that could beautifully decorate<br />
one’s surroundings. “We have<br />
objects made of fish skin,<br />
which always amazes foreign<br />
travellers and hangers that look<br />
like whale teeth. Last but not<br />
least, we have a notepad which<br />
emulates the volcanic activity<br />
of Hekla and Askja, where each<br />
page of the notepad represents<br />
a particular layer of ash or lava<br />
with the year of the eruption<br />
indicated,” says Halla, who adds<br />
that even though the ash cloud of<br />
Eyjafjallajökull has caused much<br />
irritation and even destruction for the farms around<br />
the glacier and their animals, volcanos keep being a<br />
strong motive in Icelandic art as well as fascinating<br />
phenomena of nature.<br />
The oldest part of the house, closest to the street,<br />
houses an exhibition room run by the city of<br />
Reykjavik. In this space there are always some<br />
exhibitions going on, the next one being from The<br />
Reykjavik City Museum, which will exhibit the<br />
British occupation of Iceland 10th of May 1939.<br />
T<strong>og</strong>ether, Kraum and the exhibition space produce<br />
a charming entity, which is interesting, both<br />
pleasurable and satisfying to visit.<br />
More information is available on www.kraum.is<br />
The winners of Kraum‘s design competition, which was in<br />
the spirit of the sculptor Ásmundur Sveinsson.