National Purist Routes
Gislunn Halfdanardottir and Mathias Kempton

Industry and tourism capitalize on the unique nature found in Iceland in what is regarded as a conflict of interest – a notion derived from the dichotomy between “pure wilderness” and “the manmade”. In Norway, a country often looked to in Icelandic preservation practices, municipalities have stopped windmill projects in order to obtain status as host to a “National Tourist Route”.

As a polemic response, the project National Purist Routes explores the intersecting fields of hydro and thermal energy, tourism, and natural landscapes. It is a proposed network of hydrogen filling stations for rental cars developed as destinations across Iceland, suggesting possible symbiotic energies between the expanding energy and tourism industries.