The new art academy will be placed in the heart of Reykjavik on the main shopping street Laugavegur. As a unique character, Reykjavik is build up of small and diverse buildings full of colour and inherent atmosphere. The project is based on this exact quality seeking to preserve the unique cityscape of Reykjavik.The new buildig translates the Icelandic building tradition into a modern language keeping the scale and atmosphere of the existing city.

With the development of the new Icelandic Academy of the fine arts, departments of architecture, design, art, theatre and music will be unified under one roof. The project – drawn up in close collaboration with Icelandic +Arkitektar – creates a connection in scale between city and building by dividing the different functions in the art academy into smaller units. The units are weaved into the surrounding urban tissue creating a large open atrium. The atrium will be a new public meeting point in the city.