Sketching Bathing in Iceland Nominated for the Icelandic Design Awards 2026

Sketching Bathing in Iceland is a project by Rán Flygenring exploring Iceland’s swimming pool culture. The project was published as a book and presented through an exhibition and drawing workshops at three swimming pools in Reykjavík. Sketching Bathing in Iceland is nominated for the Icelandic Design Awards 2026 in the category Project.

Sketching Bathing in Iceland captures Iceland’s swimming pool culture with remarkable insight, humour and lightness. In its raw simplicity, the work resonates with audiences while also offering an informative introduction to those unfamiliar with Icelandic swimming pool culture, which was recently recognised by UNESCO as part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

In the book, Rán documents the distinctive qualities and diversity of Icelandic swimming pool culture in an accessible and engaging way, for Icelanders and international visitors alike.

The work reflects a profound understanding of the swimming pool as a social space in Icelanders’ everyday lives: an informal meeting place for conversation, gossip and connections across generations and social groups of diverse backgrounds. At the same time, it makes this culture accessible and comprehensible to those encountering it for the first time.

In the jury’s assessment, Rán takes a personal and humorous approach to documenting life in Iceland’s swimming pools through drawing, using this approach as a means of cultural communication that invites further conversation and new stories. She is both a participant and an observing researcher, and her distinctive visual language reflects this dual role. The work comprises atmospheric illustrations that sensitively capture the water and the ambience, maintaining a cohesive aesthetic across the drawings, exhibition and book.

Sketching Bathing in Iceland is a cohesive body of work that documents Iceland’s bathing culture and communicates it with exceptional insight, sensitivity and humour.

Rán Flygenring is an award-winning Icelandic illustrator, visual artist, designer and author. She is known for her distinctive, playful and unconventional visual style, and for work in which nature, the environment and the joy of storytelling play a central role. She is also part of the team participating in the 2027 Venice Biennale of Architecture, with a project in which Icelandic bathing culture will be the focus.

The Icelandic Design Awards 2026 ceremony will take place at Gróska on November 5th, accompanied by a related discussion. Save the date!

The Icelandic Design Awards highlight the importance and quality of design and architecture in Iceland, emphasising their impact on quality of life, value creation and sustainability for society as a whole. The awards will be presented for the thirteenth time this year, across three categories: Product // Place // Project. In addition, an award for Best Investment in Design and the Icelandic Design Awards Honorary Award will be presented.

The Iceland Design and Architecture Centre organises the awards in collaboration with the Museum of Design and Applied Art and the Iceland University of the Arts, with support from the Housing and Construction Authority, Business Iceland, Gróska, the University of Iceland Science Park and Blue Lagoon Iceland.