Peter Day from Peter Day’s World of Business came to interview me a few weeks ago and some Icelandic entrepreneurs. We met in Toppstodin, a former Powerstation that is being changed into a creative center.
The interview should be here – at least for the next few weeks.
Shortly after the epic fall of the Icelandic banking system I became involved in a group that took over Toppstöðin, a Powerstation in Reykjavik that had been standing empty for 20 years. The goal was to create facilities and working spaces where people could work on new ideas. The idea was to gather designers, artists, engineers, businesspeople and others see if something new might be born. In part this was a reaction to the crisis, many talented people were loosing their jobs in architecture, advertising, engineering and construction. We wanted to show that something new was possible, so we asked the City of Reykjavik to lend us the building and since then the operation has been steadily growing.
Here you can see part of the engineering students and the race car with a body made of basalt and the knit covers over the tires. http://english.hi.is
I mentioned a few other things that are currently being created in this neglected Powerstation and if you want to more information here are some examples:
Sæþór Ásgeirsson is has been working on and developing vertical axis wind turbines for summerhouses, specially designed to withstand Icelandic weather. http://www.mbl.is
Dagný Bjarnadóttir is making very interesting greenhouse furniture: http://www.furnibloom.com/
Fafu Toys is one of the pioneers in the building that have moved to the next level: http://www.fafuplay.com/
In fashion and design we have also http://www.shadow-creatures.com/ and http://www.hnossdesign.is/ and Asta Creative Clothing: www.astaclothes.is
Then we have artists like Hallgerður Hallgrímsdóttir and quite often the house has been used as a location for film or photoshoots.
This is not my day job, just something I got involved in as a result of writing about creativity and possibilities in lectures and in my book Dreamland – a Self Help Manual for a Frightened Nation.