New Arctic Circle Landmark For Grímsey

The results of a design contest for a new Arctic Circle landmark on the island of Grímsey are in, and judges were unanimous in their decision.

According to an announcement from the Iceland Design Centre, the winning entry was from Kristinn E. Hrafnsson and Studio Granda. Entitled “Orbis et Globus”, the monument is a basalt sphere, three metres in diameter, which will rest on the portion of the Arctic Circle that passes through Grímsey.

In a statement from the artists behind the project, they explain:

According to calculation it’s location shifts, on average, 14.5m annually due to the earth’s axial tilt and is now at 66° 33.9 N. Each spring the sphere is rolled to the corrected latitude in a generally northward direction until 2047 when the Arctic Circle will no longer cross the island. The movement of the Arctic Circle is either northwards or southwards depending on the fluctuations of the axial tilt cycle and that results in a laboriously slow procession. Presently the movement is southwards and this will continue for the next decade whence it will turn northwards until it reaches the northernmost promontory of the island. The sphere will be held at this point while the arctic circle takes a brief jaunt over the sea and moved south again on it’s return. The following turn to north is it’s last for 20,000 years.

Now that a winner has been selected, the Iceland Design Centre says, the next step will be to work with relevant parties to make the monument a reality.