Protest and Parliament History

Reykjavík City Hall sits half-submerged in the northern edge of the Lake Tjörnin, appearing to float upon the dark water. Designed by architects Studio Granda, the concrete structure earned immediate controversy when it opened in nineteen…

Austurvöllur is a wide, open square dominated by the bronze statue of Jón Sigurðsson, the leader of Iceland's nineteenth-century independence movement. Before the city grew up around it, this patch of grass served as a hayfield for the…

The Alþingishúsið is built from hewn Icelandic dolerite, a dark, volcanic rock that gives the structure a somber, heavy appearance against the bright sky. Completed in eighteen eighty-one, it serves as the home of the national parliament.…

The Reykjavik Cathedral is a simple, white neoclassical building with a dark, slate-grey roof that stands out against the colorful corrugated iron houses of the old city. When it was built in the seventeen nineties, it housed the island’s…

The Black Cone stands in front of the Reykjavík City Hall, a sharp, obsidian-colored spike rising from a low concrete plinth. This sculpture honors the protest movement that took place in the square during the two thousand eight financial…

The gray stone building with the steep, dark roof is Menntaskólinn í Reykjavík. It has served as Iceland's oldest educational institution since eighteen forty-six, when it moved here from a smaller town. Students still attend classes in…

The Stjórnarráð building stands out with its plain, white walls and simple, dark-tiled roof, an austere appearance that defines the heart of Icelandic government. Originally built in seventeen seventy-seven to serve as a prison, the…

The steep grassy slope of Arnarhóll rises above the downtown streets, crowned by a bronze statue of Ingólfur Arnarson. He stands with his arm outstretched, pointing toward the harbor where he famously threw his high seat pillars overboard…