Travel the World with Annie and Nick: Architecture in Iceland

I was surprised to see that the architecture in Iceland has a distinctly modern feel to it. Even some of the sculptures are very modern. We've taken some photos of examples of the architecture all around Iceland just to give a hint of the "modern" feel of the country despite its rich and long history.

View from Grand Hotel room in Reykjavik (you can see Hallgrimsskirkja steeple in the distance).

Hallgrimsskirkja (Hallgrim's Church)

Street in Reykjavik

Street in Reykjavik looking towards Mt. Esja.

Rainbow Tower at Keflavik Airport.

New Harpa Conference Center at Reykjavik Harbor

View from inside Harpa

Building in Akureyri (unsure what it houses but I found it interesting).

The Church in Akureyri (Akureyrarkirkja)

These 2 statues are by Jon Gunnar Arnason. The first is Solfar (Sun Voyager) in Reykjavik, the second is in Akureyri but I don't know what its name is.

Iceland's population started growing after its independence from Denmark in 1944. Prior to that time, they lived mostly in sod houses which are rapidly consumed by the land and must be rebuilt every 20 or so years. Because there are relatively few trees in Iceland (less than 1% of Iceland is forested), there was, and is, not an abundance of wood with which to build.

These sod buildings are at a farm in Modrudalur Northeast Iceland. The farm settlement provides accommodation (guesthouse) and has kept up the old sod building allure as a tourist attraction.

Notwithstanding the sod buildings, Modrudalur has a modern-looking little church too.

There used to be trees in Iceland when it was first settled in the 900s. However they used wood to build their homes and ships, so Iceland was deforested before they knew it. Seeing as it takes longer for trees to grow in the Icelandic climate, it never recovered its forests. Just now the government is making efforts to reforest. One of our hotels was in a "forest area" (Hallormsstadaskogur in East Iceland) and it is clear that the trees were planted. They are experimenting with various types of tree species.

The forest is along the eastern shore of Lake Lagarfljót.

When you tour Europe, you see many gothic churches and cathedrals, gilt and ornate. In Iceland, the oldest church we saw was built in 1859 at Thingvellir. The one in Husavik is the second oldest, built in 1907.