Set on the banks of the Elbe River on a historic port in Hamburg’s HafenCity, the massive Elbphilharmonie comprises three concert halls, a hotel, 45 private apartments, and a publicly accessible Plaza with 360-degree panoramic city views. The juxtaposition of the building’s new curvaceous glass volume with the brick-clad and blocky industrial warehouse below makes for a striking and beautiful contrast between contemporary design and the historic port. The dazzling new facade consists of 1,100 individual panes carefully shaped and marked with small basalt gray reflective dots to minimize solar heat gain and to create a shimmering effect.
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The Elbphilharmonie’s crowning gem is the 2,100-seat “Grand Hall,” the largest concert hall of the three that will be detached from the rest of the building for improved soundproofing. Its towering form defines the Elbphilharmonie’s overall shape. “As a landmark visible from afar, the Elbphilharmonie will lend the horizontally oriented city an entirely new accent, symbolizing Hamburg’s foray into the new territory of the harbor area along the shores of the Elbe,” write Herzog & de Meuron. The building is slated to open to the public on January 11, 2017. Those interested in a closer glimpse of Elbphilharmonie before the opening date can take an online virtual tour.
+ Elbphilharmonie
+ Herzog & de Meuron
Via The Architects Newspaper
Images via Elbphilharmonie by Maxim Schulz
