Albína Thordarson receives the Honorary Award of the Icelandic Design Awards 2025
Albína Thordarson, architect, receives the Honorary Award of the Icelandic Design Awards 2025 for her outstanding contribution to architecture. She has established herself as one of Iceland’s foremost architects.
Albína’s work is defined by an aesthetic that places people and the environment at its core. Through her approach, she succeeds in creating timeless spaces and buildings, architecture that captures light and offers a warm setting for human life, while grounded in simplicity and pure geometric forms.
Throughout her career, Albína has played a vital role in shaping Icelandic architecture and its history through a period of significant transformation, from the development of a welfare society to today’s emphasis on sustainable and human-centered design. Her body of work includes a range of projects, such as kindergartens like Álfasteinn in Hafnarfjörður and Ás in Garðabær, the Engine Drivers’ Association holiday home at Laugarvatn, the Teachers’ Union holiday houses in Hrunamannahreppur, residential buildings such as Bæjarholt and Dvergholt in Hafnarfjörður, and Reynilund 11–17 in Garðabær, and the Asparhús in Vallanes, East Iceland, where Icelandic timber was, for the first time, certified for structural use.
Born in Reykjavík in 1939, Albína comes from a family deeply rooted in architecture, her father was architect Sigvaldi Thordarson. She graduated from Reykjavik College in 1959 and went on to study at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture in Copenhagen, where she graduated in 1966.
Following her studies, Albína worked at several architectural studio, including those of Skarphéðinn Jóhannsson, Manfreð Vilhjálmsson, and Þorvaldur S. Þorvaldsson, before establishing her own studio. For several years, she ran a practice with her sister, architect Guðfinna Thordarson. Together, they designed notable buildings such as the Academic Building of the Comprehensive College of Northwest Iceland in Sauðárkrókur and the City Hall in Ísafjörður.
Albína has participated in numerous architectural competitions, both independently and in collaboration with others, often earning awards for her designs. She served as Chair of the Architects Association of Iceland from 2005 to 2007, in addition to serving on multiple committees and holding various positions on behalf of the profession. In 2015, she was made an Honorary Member of the Architects Association of Iceland in recognition of her lifelong contribution to the field.
With deep roots in architecture, coupled with perseverance and professionalism, Albína H. Thordarson stands as a role model and influential figure in Icelandic architectural history, a pioneering woman whose work continues to shape our built environment and society. Albína was one of the first women in Iceland to establish her own architectural studio, paving the way for new generations of architects.
Her life’s work stands as a powerful testament to the enduring value of architecture that serves people, community, and culture for generations to come.
The award ceremony took place for the 12th time on November 6th in Gróska, in the presence of a large crowd who celebrated outstanding design.
Honorary award is a recognition given to a person who has achieved exceptional success in their work, has been very influential in their professional field, or has delivered outstanding lifetime work in the field of design and architecture in Iceland.
The Icelandic Design Award honours the best Icelandic design and architecture annually. The importance of design in society, culture and business has been growing steadily, and it is therefore vital to increase the understanding of good design and highlight the value of quality.
The Icelandic Design Awards were established by Iceland Design and Architecture in collaboration with the Iceland University of the Arts and Museum of Design and Applied Art, with support from Business Iceland, Housing and Construction Authorities, UI Science Park, Gróska - innovation and business growth center and the Blue Lagoon.
