Life In Pictures: Metropolis Rising

In the city of cranes, work is never quite over.

Construction workers certainly know that, and yet they aren’t afraid of coming to Iceland from the disparate corners of the world to offer their sweat and tears to the expansion of Reykjavík’s urban map.

Polish workers seem to be particularly eager to move to Iceland, for six month stints, to fill positions that no Icelander wants. We followed Jarek Kuchta, a Polish crane operator who has been working on the construction of Hotel Hilton in downtown Reykjavík for the past four months.

Like the rest of his crew, Jarek lives in Mosfellsbær, in a hotel built from industrial containers. Every morning, at 07:00 on the dot, Jarek is ready begin his day amongst the clouds—but not before a cup of coffee and a sneaky cigarette. Not bad for a day’s work.