Iceland: Nordic House

The Nordic House is a cultural institution located in Reykjavik. It is a community space that supports and encourages cultural connections between Iceland and other Nordic countries.

The institution, opened in 1968, is operated by the Nordic Council of Ministers. An interior library, restaurant, and event spaces provide beautiful and cozy meeting places for community members and visitors to enjoy year-round cultural events and exhibits.

The building was designed by Finnish architect Alvar Aalto. Aalto’s works are famous for celebrating the relationships between architecture and setting, person and nature, with coordinated use of natural materials, muted color palette, and organic shapes. This project, one of his later works, encompasses many of these design markers that have become symbols of his work.

The Building Exterior

The building’s exterior form is simple- a white podium with a soaring ultramarine tiled roof. The ultramarine (blue) tiles represent the mountains seen in the distance on a clear day.

(Here’s the building- behind that silver car. Terrible photo courtesy of me! Haha)

Nordic House Interior

On the interior, Aalto utilizes white walls, dark tiles, and wood to craft beautiful spaces for gathering and collaboration.

The lobby has a lower ceiling and dark, warm materials. It is a space of compression, situated in the center of the building, serving as access to more communal rooms- the restaurant, event space, and library. As you’ll see, these rooms are vastly different in color and scale.

The library soars upwards with a vaulted ceiling with central skylight. Light fixtures dangle mid-air in the lofty void while pine shelves house colorful collections of Nordic books. The center of the library is nestled into the earth with a subterranean reading area. This space is cozy and sunken, with a variety of spaces to read, rest, and explore.

Aalto’s work didn’t stop at the architectural level! He designed many of the furnishings, light fixtures, door handles, and other miscellaneous architectural details to coordinate with his design vision.

So, next time you visit Reykjavik, make sure to squeeze a visit in between waterfalls and geysers to see this architectural gem. It is a delightfully welcoming space with beautiful details, sure to charm architects and tourists alike.