The Reykjavík Grapevine Design Awards 2017
2016 could easily be called the year of Icelandic design. With so many spectacular new products and projects on display, the competition for this year’s Design Awards was fierce.
You Don’t Deserve Anything
Life’s hard. Really hard. And here’s a fact. In nature there’s no such thing as deserving or not deserving something. There’s no fairness. The human myth of fairness is a [
Missing In Iceland: Handguns
I’m from Baltimore, a city known to the rest of the world thanks to two TV shows: ‘Homicide: Life on the Street’ and ‘The Wire’. We have a lot of […]
News In Brief: Eurovision, Capital Controls and the Sigmundur Davíð-Donald Collusion
The top story of the past two weeks is without a doubt the lifting of the last of the capital controls that Iceland put in place in the wake of […]
What To Do? Our Picks from the DesignMarch Programme
The wine is waiting to be swirled and quaffed, and the overt opinions ready at the gate. The design world is getting set for DesignMarch 2017. With the festival is […]
Extreme Design: ‘Brute Nature’ is the theme at DesignTalks 2017
“Brute Nature” and our “it’s complicated” relationship with this planet, the theme of DesignTalks 2017, is perfectly timed for the crazy current moment. A key component o
Four Ways That The Tourism Industry Is Eating Itself
And four ways we can make it sustainable. Dr. Ben Henning is not a tourism expert. Rather, he works in geographic information systems cartography. He and his colleague Anne-Cécile
Iceland’s New Gold Rush
An Icelandic company, with financing from a Canadian company, hopes to mine for gold all over Iceland. One elected official is nonetheless worried about the environmental impact th
Editorial: Raw Talent
It’s not often that Iceland produces raw talents in classical music like Víkingur Heiðar Ólafsson, the young concert piano artist who’s on the cover of this new issue of the
Breaking Glass: The Musical Journey of Víkingur Ólafsson
Deep inside of Harpa, past the glimmering facade, the bars, shops and concert halls, through the backstage doors and the bustling production area, lies a small locked room. The str
Petition Going To Protest Deportation
A petition is going protesting the impending deportation of asylum seeker Sid Ahmed Haddouche and his family. Sid is a former police officer from Remchi, an Algerian bordertown clo
Bird Flu Breakout In Iceland Likely
Preparations against a possible bird flu outbreak have been ramped up, reports RÚV. The Icelandic Food and Veterinary Authority (IFVA) has released a statement warning that a ser
Cartoon: Spring is Coming, by Smjörfluga
Smjörfluga studies at TAW and her diet consists of movies and maybe spinach and books. Drop her a line at smjorfluga@gmail.com if you want her to do art for you […]
Island Life: Weird & Wonderful News From Around Iceland
1. A man in Reyðarfjörður was cleaning his house, originally built in 1925 (although he himself moved in in 2010), and found numerous artefacts from the early 20th century. Thes
Investigation Opened Into Chatty Bus Driver
An investigation has been opened into an incident in which a bus driver allegedly spoke on his mobile phone without using a hands-free system while driving the bus between Selfoss
UPDATE: Man Just Couldn’t Wait To Shoot His Gun
Police have arrested the man who shot off a gun in Kópavogur earlier this week, reports RÚV. Police confirm that the man confessed to the gunfire and his excuse was that [&helli
From Threat Into Thread: The Revolutionary Adidas x Parley Footwear
With plastic now polluting every corner of the globe, plastic pollution remains one of the greatest blights on the world’s oceans. From compostable coffee cups to biodegradable p
Ask A Meteorologist: Why Is Lightning So Rare In Iceland?
Q: “Why is lightning so rare in Iceland?” A: “Lightning is actually more common in Iceland than people realise, however in comparison to many other places on earth we get [&h
Time Capsule: Mokka Kaffi
Visiting the Art Deco-infused Mokka Kaffi is like stepping back into the 1950s. In fact, this cozy little place was one of Iceland’s first coffee houses, and is still run [&helli
In The Time Of If: Siggi Odds Brings Back the Runes
“If I hadn’t been in design, I would probably be an archeologist,” says Icelandic designer Siggi Odds, “out there digging up Viking swords and stuff.” Siggi spent the fir