Reviving Imslandshús
Description
Seyðisfjörður, originally a fishermen town, is now home to art, historical buildings– timber houses (Norwegian heritage)– and a ferry from the main land (Denmark). A big part of the town’s identity is comprised of the historical wooden buildings. Whether originally shipped from Norway, or designed and built based on inspiration from the Norwegian traditional architecture- more than 30 buildings are listed in The Cultural Heritage Agency of Iceland. Imslandshús is one of them.
Imslandshús is owned by an international couple - from the United States and Denmark. Jonathan moved to Iceland from the US to experiment with Icelandic-Japanese fusion cuisine, while Ida was a practicing art student at the local art school, LungA.
The wooden structure of the main part of the building was shipped from the Stavanger, Norway. A building with such an interesting story to tell has the potential to become a new, unique space, on the Seyðisfjörður map. The task is to propose a solution for a flexible space and create a place that not only serves the local community, but also provides short term and long-term accommodation for chefs, to allow for them to experiment with food and share their knowledge with one another.
My vision for this place was to keep the original atmosphere and hear the story that the space tells its guests - valuing the imperfections, highlighting the historical parts, recreating some of moments in time, and framing the landscape views. The modern interventions to this space will function as articulations of the original structure and create a journey through the building where we can find functional spaces along the way.