Placemaking
Iceland has gained worldwide fame in recent years by displaying its beautiful and unique landscape. This attracts more and more visitors to the island every year. This new stream of visitors gives rise to many new initiatives in and around Reykjavik that celebrate the beauty of the landscape.
Besides just celebrating the landscape, Reykjavik could use the momentum to put its rich culture in the spotlight. By creating hotspots in the capital, the tourist is pulled into the city and at the same time the residents of Reykjavik can benefit from these new developments.
Ódinstorg square could be such a new cultural hotspot. In the past the square has provided space for temporary initiatives several times and has acted as a laboratory for contemporary culture. At the same time the location refers to the ancient mythology of Odin and thereby to the spectacular history of Icelandic culture. There is no better stage in Reykjavik to celebrate the culture of Iceland and to bring together history and present.
Odin is a widely revered god in Norse mythology. Sleipnir is the horse that carried Odin to Iceland. We turned Sleipnir into the carrier of Ódinstorg as a cultural breeding ground: a large sculpture of the horse as a remarkable icon and multifunctional object. Every year, one million tourists are welcomed by 300.000 Icelanders. This gives our new cultural stage a funny relationship between spectator and actor. Made as a living statue, Sleipnir invites interaction at every moment of the day and becomes part of Reykjavik’s daily life.
