Þúfa

About Þúfa

Þúfa is a large outdoor artwork by the Icelandic artist Ólöf Nordal at the entrance to Reykjavík's harbour, out on the Grandi peninsula. The fish-processing company HB Grandi commissioned it in 2013, and it is one of the biggest artworks ever made in Iceland. The Icelandic word þúfa means a tussock, but it can also mean a hillock or a small mountain.

The piece is a grass-covered, dome-shaped mound 8 metres high and 26 metres across, built from around 4,500 tonnes of gravel. Steps set into the turf spiral up to the top, where a small wooden shed is used for drying fish, a nod to a traditional Icelandic way of preserving the catch. The walk up takes only a few minutes.

Most people come for the view and the contrast. From the top you look back across the harbour to the city, while the working fishing port carries on around the base. The commissioners intended it as a contemplative space amid the harbour's activity, and it is a quieter counterpoint to the busier sights of the Old Harbour.

Þúfa is public art in the open air, with no admission fee, no booking and no set opening hours. To reach it, walk west along the harbour onto Grandi, a fishing and fish-processing district, and continue out to the point where the mound stands. The grass and steps can be slippery or icy in wet and winter weather, so wear good shoes and take care near the harbour edge.