Comments on: Monument to megalomania

By: Muriel Volestrangler

Muriel Volestrangler — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 05:05:11 +0000

hildigunnur,
I read somewhere that it will cost 10 milj. to finish the building, or about twice the amount of the recent cuts to the health budget. It seems unlikely that there will be a lot of popular support for completing the building when basic services are being cut.
I don’t know what will happen to the ISO, maybe Bjork can hire them, or they can do Hollywood soundtracks (not as implausible as you might think). I don’t blame them for wanting out of the Haskolabio, it’s just a huge concrete box.

By: hildigunnur

hildigunnur — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 00:02:25 +0000

Muriel, I refuse to believe the ISO will be out in the next few months!

The concert hall will be up too, we do have a tradition for building in recessions. Will take some extra years but we can wait.

By: alda

alda — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 00:13:28 +0000

Dave – well said!

Mondrian – You say ‘ambitious’, I say ‘megalomania’.
And yes, not only ORs, but entire hospitals. I know.

americangirl – I think ‘fun’ turned to ‘dread’ sometime around November.

By: americangirl

americangirl — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 23:06:08 +0000

Just took a quick tour of the Concert Hall website. The “fun facts” section seems quite a bit less “fun” in light of the current situation. “Monument to Megalomania” indeed. Actually, that would be a much better name for the “fun facts” section.

By: Mondrian

Mondrian — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 19:46:22 +0000

Got a look at the Concert Hall’s website and saw the once (and future?) finished building. Ambitious to say the least, although it looked like it would offer a great sea view if nothing else. How have tourist numbers been looking in Iceland since the autumn?

ORs are being shut down?!

By: Dave Hambidge

Dave Hambidge — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 18:03:32 +0000

Health care is a softish target when economy tight as ‘the bosses ‘ assume that, if push comes to shove, the ill who matter will fund their own treatment. Those who can’t afford are seen as basket cases anyway!

Them barricades are getting ever closer?

dave

By: alda

alda — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 17:13:00 +0000

Dave – health care is provided by the state, although we pay a nominal fee each time we visit a doctor. Those fees have just gone up, and fees for specialists even more. Every day now we hear about ORs being closed and even whole hospitals (like St. Joseph’s hospital in Hafnarfjördur, near Reykjavík). So yes, very worrying – and it’s already evoking a lot of anger.

LDE – Kreppa sightseeing tours – a novel idea. And yes, that is a painting in my banner. Or, rather, arranged painted cut-outs, that I happen to have on my wall. Which everyone is free to interpret in their own way.

By: Ljósmynd DE

Ljósmynd DE — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 14:37:45 +0000

What’s in this new banner? Some details of a painting?

The prices for tourism related services seem to be on the rise even in EUR terms. Airfares, rental cars and those service providers which obviously have decided to exclude the domestic market – like the Blue Lagoon in Reykjanes – are more expensive than last year – in Euro, that is. I’m not sure that it is sustainable to advertise Iceland as bargain destination under those circumstances.

But I have booked my flight to Iceland for the summer anyway. Maybe there will be a sightseeing tour available then, presenting all the kreppa ruins and testimonies of the megalomania.

By: Dave Hambidge

Dave Hambidge — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 12:59:46 +0000

I am concerned to read about hospitals closing. What, if any, state provided or funded health care do you up there?

dave

By: Muriel Volestrangler

Muriel Volestrangler — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 04:53:21 +0000

The Concert Hall reminds me of the infamous Ryugyong Hotel in the middle of Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea — aka the “Hotel of Doom”, “Worst Building In The History Of Mankind”, “Phantom Hotel” or “Phantom Pyramid”. It’s a 105 floor pyramid-shaped concrete skyscraper monstrosity that was mostly finished but has sat vacant for the past 20 years. It consumed 2% of North Korea’s GDP and officials there are so embarrassed by it they Photoshop it out of photos of the city.
I think the “Phantom Concert Hall” is ugly as it is, and the original design even if finished would be ugly too. But it could be used for something. If not blown up or turned into a paintball arena, maybe it could be used as a jail or homeless shelter or emigrant processing center, or a Museum of Financial Corruption. Or an Icelandic Blues music hall, or a new home for the busy Icelandic bankruptcy court.
I feel bad for the talented ISO. The lack of a concert hall is the least of their problems now — they are all going to be unemployed in the next few months. What a shame. Maybe they can move abroad and become the Dubai Symphony Orchestra.