Harpa and Other Music Venues

Description

A new landmark for Reykjavik—more than an icon, Announced as finalist for the Mies van der Rohe Award 2013

Harpa and Other Music Venues by Henning Larsen Architects offers an insight into a selection of music venues designed by the Danish firm Henning Larsen Architects. In his essay presented in this book, architectural writer Christian Bundegaard notes that music venues “offer an opportunity to create the link between architecture and society,” as both have the ability to gather and unify people. Through photographs, models, and descriptions, four unique venues are highlighted among the selection: the Harpa—Reykjavik Concert Hall and Conference Centre, the Copenhagen Opera House, the Uppsala Concert and Congress Hall, and Lanzarote’s Palacio de Congresos. With texts by Christian Bundegaard and Henning Larsen, Harpa and Other Music Venues demonstrates how architecture influences society, how society influences architecture, and how, in turn, it becomes necessary to work with architecture as more than an artistic object. The spectacular entry facade, made of more than 1,000 polygonal glass units modeled after the island’s basalt pillars, was created in collaboration with the artist Olafur Eliasson. The glass breaks up the light like a kaleidoscope, so that the broad waters of the harbor, the open sky and the hilly environs are reflected in splendid colors. This publication presents the building from its initial design in 2005 to its completion in May 2011, and demonstrates how nature can help inspire architecture to dematerialize.

144 pages, 116 ills. / 24.3 x 27.3 cm / English