Skrúður, Núpur
The International Carlo Scarpa Prize for Gardens, 2013
edited by Patrizia Boschiero, Luigi Latini, Domenico Luciani
cover price 18 euros
Fondazione Benetton Studi Ricerche-Antiga Edizioni
Treviso 2013
176 pages
97 illustrations in colour and 89 black and white
ISBN 978-88-97784-17-3
Italian edition, ISBN 978-88-97784-17-3
The volume sets out to acquaint readers, including non-specialists, with the form and life of the place awarded the 2013 Carlo Scarpa Prize: Skrúður, a tiny botanical garden attached to a school specializing in arts and crafts founded at the beginning of the 1900s in the village of Núpur, in the Western Fjords region of Iceland, just a few kilometres south of the Arctic Circle.
The garden, its history, its characteristics and its geological, geographical and cultural context are described from various disciplinary points of view. The studies and the illustrations, and above all the words of the “diary” kept by Pastor Sigtryggur Guðlaugsson, translated and published unabridged, introduce us to a story of doggedly passionate commitment on the part of men and women, of teachers and pupils, from the beginning to the present day.
Stones, trees, green and root vegetables, ornamental plants and flowers are the raw materials of a practical experiment, carried out in extreme environmental conditions and designed to explore the educational potential and emancipatory force, for the individual and the community, of a direct relationship with and understanding of nature.
Contents
The International Carlo Scarpa Prize for Gardens, 1990-2013, 4
Regulations and Jury, 5
Skrúður, Núpur. Jury report, in English, Icelandic and Italian, 8
Brynjólfur Jónsson, Our dedication, your encouragement, 26
Aðalsteinn Eiríksson, Welcome to Skrúður, Núpur, 28
Sigtryggur Guðlaugsson, Skrúður á Núpi. Forty years of cultivation, care and renewal (1909-1949),
edited by Aðalsteinn Eiríksson and Brynjólfur Jónsson, 30
Aðalsteinn Eiríksson and Maurizio Tani, Skrúður, the school at Núpur, Sigtryggur Guðlaugsson and the teachings of Grundtvig in the history of Icelandic education, 79
Halldór Kristjánsson, Sigtryggur Guðlaugsson, pastor at Núpur, 91
Magnús Tumi Guðmundsson, Iceland: a volcanic island of unique geology in the North Atlantic, 95
Þingvellir, National Park, 103
Gullfoss, Skógafoss, Dynjandi, 107
Avalanche protection structures in Siglufjörður, 110
Guðmundur Hálfdanarson, History of Iceland, 112
Einar E. Sæmundsen and Samson B. Harðarson, From vegetable patches to ornamental gardens, 119
Massimo Rossi, The cultural construction of the Nordic elsewhere, 138
Hervé Brunon, Forest Lost and Paradise Regained, 150
José Tito Rojo, Skrúður, the happy garden, 158
Bibliography, 167
Maps available, 171
List of illustrations, 172
International Carlo Scarpa Prize for Gardens 2013, 174
