engineering

Hof Ásatrúarfélagsins

Hof Ásatrúarfélagsins is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Hof Ásatrúarfélagsins rather than just read about it. In short: Hof Ásatrúarfélagsins is a religious building under construction in Reykjavík, Iceland. When finished it will be used by the Heathen organization Ásatrúarfélagið for religious ceremonies, concerts, exhibitions and administrative work.

Key takeaways

Hof Ásatrúarfélagsins belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Hof Ásatrúarfélagsins to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Hof Ásatrúarfélagsins from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Hof Ásatrúarfélagsins is a religious building under construction in Reykjavík, Iceland. When finished it will be used by the Heathen organization Ásatrúarfélagið for religious ceremonies, concerts, exhibitions and administrative work. It is Iceland's first major hof to the Norse gods since the Viking Age. It is located on the southern slope of the hill Öskjuhlíð, close to Reykjavík University. The project has been under development since 2005, but has been delayed several times because of the 2008–2011 Icelandic financial crisis and problems with the design. It has been under construction since 2015. As of 2022, the building's office part was operational but the social part was still unfinished.

History

Development In 2005, Ásatrúarfélagið decided to sell its house in Reykjavík which it had acquired in 1998. The real-estate value had at this point increased so much that the organization's long-time goal of building a hof in Reykjavík for its activities had become a realistic project. Ásatrúarfélagið originally applied for a plot of land for a religious building in Elliðaárdalur. Reykjavík's mayor Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir instead suggested a location on the hill Öskjuhlíð, which Ásatrúarfélagið accepted in 2006. However, this plot turned out to be within the safety zone of the Reykjavík Airport, so a new location nearby, on the southern slope of the same hill, was assigned in 2008. Ásatrúarfélagið and its allsherjargoði Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson were especially pleased by the proximity between this location and the Reykjavík University. The land was donated by the city and the construction funds were provided by Ásatrúarfélagið. On 1 September 2008, five architectural firms submitted their respective proposals for the building's design to Ásatrúarfélagið's building committee. When the building still was on a planning stage, the 2008 Icelandic banking collapse took place, which resulted in substantial financial losses for Ásatrúarfélagið, and the hof project was delayed by several years. In January 2015, Magnús Jensson's design was revealed. It was reported that construction was soon to begin. The building was reported to have a construction cost of 130 million Icelandic krónas.

Construction Construction officially broke ground at the solar eclipse of 20 March 2015. The building was then projected to be finished in the late summer of 2016. However, the complicated design has caused technical problems and further delays. Immediately there were problems with the preparation of the site, which had the effect that actual construction did not begin until 2017. In December 2017 it was expected to be finished by the end of 2018. In February 2019, Hilmar Örn said that the most optimistic expectation was for the building to be finished in December 2019, although he hoped that parts would be ready for active use already in the autumn that year. He explained that it was the dome that caused problems and that the project had gone severely over its original budget, with the costs now estimated at 270 million krónas. He also revealed that Ásatrúarfélagið had looked at different models for potentially crowdfunding parts of the costs, although stressed that the funders in that case must receive something in return for their money. He explained that it was crucial for the organization's dignity to not take any bank loan. In June 2019, Hilmar Örn said that the building would be constructed in stages. The office part would become operational first, but even if the crowdfunding campaign was a success, the whole project could take two years to finish. In February 2020, Hilmar Örn expected the dome to be finished in 2022. The projected total cost was 300 million krónas. The deputy allsherjargoði Jóhanna G. Harðardóttir said in July 2021 that construction had proceeded well during the last year and the building should be able to host Ásatrúarfélagið's administrative work in the autumn of 2021. By April 2022, Ásatrúarfélagið had moved into the office part and the social part was close to being finished. In July 2023, Hilmar Örn said there was no hurry to finish the dome and it will be built whenever the organization can afford materials without taking a loan. A plan to buy the steel frame for the dome from China had fallen apart because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Architecture and design

Hof Ásatrúarfélagsins was designed by the Icelandic architect and Ásatrúarfélagið member Magnús Jensson. Jensson wanted the building to look timeless and neither be a Viking Age pastiche nor specifically modern. The aim was to represent a close relationship to earth, sky and sun. The design incorporates numbers and geometry considered sacred by Ásatrúarfélagið, such as the numbers nine, 432,000 and the golden ratio. The building is made of concrete and local wood. The main part will have an area of 350 square metres (3,800 sq ft) and hold a maximum of 250 people. It has an oval shape and an inverted dome on top; the intention is to let in sunlight which changes on a daily and seasonal basis. It is built into the side of the hill and uses natural rock as one of its walls, allowing water to flow down the stone wall and be collected in pools. Next to the building is a memorial stone for Sveinbjörn Beinteinsson, Ásatrúarfélagið's first allsherjargoði. The monument was dedicated on 22 April 2010 with a ceremony that paid tribute to the local landvættir and several gods. The design allows the building to be expanded in the future. According to Hilmar Örn, there are preliminary plans for an expansion that would provide a facility for international research on subjects related to mythology.

Name The name used in the media and promotional material, "hof Ásatrúarfélagsins", is descriptive and means "The hall of the ōs faith association" or "The temple of the ōs faith association". The association has asked the public for proposals for the building's official name, but the final decision will be taken shortly before the consecration.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Hof Ásatrúarfélagsins

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Hof Ásatrúarfélagsins claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Hof Ásatrúarfélagsins before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Hof Ásatrúarfélagsins ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Hof Ásatrúarfélagsins

In research: Hof Ásatrúarfélagsins appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Hof Ásatrúarfélagsins in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Hof Ásatrúarfélagsins is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Buildings and structures in Reykjavík, Buildings and structures under construction, Germanic neopaganism, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Hof Ásatrúarfélagsins outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Hof Ásatrúarfélagsins” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Hof Ásatrúarfélagsins in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Hof Ásatrúarfélagsins means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Hof Ásatrúarfélagsins out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Hof Ásatrúarfélagsins in simple terms?

Why does Hof Ásatrúarfélagsins matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Hof Ásatrúarfélagsins?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Hof Ásatrúarfélagsins.