"The importance of Icelandic turf houses goes beyond turf – it is also aesthetics, as part of the national heritage," said Hjörleifur Stefánsson, an Icelandic architect who has studied turf houses for several decades. "Turf houses are not rigid: they are living organisms, changing and renewing constantly. They have their own legacy. The designer William Morris, for example, took inspiration in his work from Icelandic turf houses."