Now & Then: A Monument To The Selective Ambitions Of Government

It was just weeks ago that this domineering new 6.400 square metre building was fully ready for use. Work on its foundations only started in February 2020, so it was built fast at an estimated cost of 5,6 billion Icelandic krónur.

The massive building — the cushiest of government offices — is located in a part of Reykjavík that has been in use since the very beginning of human settlement on this Island. In fact, when archeological work on the site took place before construction of the fancy new building, it was discovered that the plot had been the site of a smithy in the 9th century.

Over the past 1.000 years, numerous other buildings have occupied the plot, but most have been of little consequence and thus of little interest. The building seen in the archival image is a two-storey timber structure built in 1895 by Geir Zoega, a well known man in his day. In the 70s and 80s it served as the main office of Alcoholics Anonymous and it was later acquired by painter Sigurður Örlygsson, who moved the entire house to Skerjafjörður, where it still stands today.

The new structure was built by and for Alþingi, the Icelandic parliament. At a time in which infrastructure is in disarray countrywide country, and when every other school and kindergarten is riddled with mould that the government cannot seem to find the money, resources or time to deal with, parliamentarians have proven that, if prioritised, an oversized, enormously expensive building for their exclusive use can be built in record time. The system works!

We’re all anxiously awaiting the time when MPs finally figure out how to apply similar resources and urgency to something or someone other than themselves. That’s something all 63 of them can ponder in the luxury of their new building where they’re afforded more than 100 square metres per MP, while the rest of us can go fuck ourselves.