Reykjavik Art Museum - Hafnarhus
Contemporary art in a converted 1930s harbour warehouse, home to the city's Erro collection.
Hafnarhus began as the office and warehouse block of the Port of Reykjavik, built between 1933 and 1939 to a design by Sigurdur Gudmundsson working with the harbour master Thorarinn Kristjansson. It was among the largest buildings in Iceland when it went up, and was extended in 1957-58. Studio Granda converted it for the Reykjavik Art Museum between 1998 and 2000, keeping the heavy concrete frame and the austere lines of the original while opening the interior to daylight.
Hafnarhus is one of three sites of the Reykjavik Art Museum, alongside Kjarvalsstadir and Asmundarsafn, and the one given over to contemporary work. Six galleries carry a changing programme of Icelandic and international exhibitions, while further rooms show the museum's holding of work by Erro, the Icelandic painter who gave the city a large body of work in 1989. The building sits on the edge of the old harbour, a short walk from the Kolaportid market and the waterfront.
Highlights
- Six galleries given over to contemporary Icelandic and international art
- Permanent rooms devoted to the painter Erro, whose gift the museum holds
- 1930s port warehouse converted by Studio Granda between 1998 and 2000
- One ticket covers Hafnarhus, Kjarvalsstadir and Asmundarsafn for 24 hours
