There’s hardly a building more famous than the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg. One who dabbles in architectural achievements usually comes across the major hits and this being one of them. We lucked out with an (astonishing yodeling) performance that still had tickets available so we were able to get inside the building.
Riding and walking around central Hamburg, there’s plenty of opportunities to get a glance at the building. For a performance center that’s in a multi use building the scale of it is astonishing and similar to the NEMO science building right on the water in Amsterdam, this building strongly calls to the maritime history of the city.
Skipping right to the heart of the matter, the main performance hall is a technical work of engineering mastery. Besides having no bad seat in the house, which I think is one of the best innovations in theatre design in our century by have seats surround 360 the stage- you can hear a pin drop in this place- truly. Somehow feels like one has entered into the center of a spaceship.
Contributing to the pin drop quality of sound are the beautifully textured wall sound proofing as well as some massive doors sealing in the space. I had to touch the wall texture- not sure if it would be soft or hard…
The sections and plans for this building have to be something else. First the massive escalator, then one meandering set of staircases after another- there’s a sense of curiosity created as one journeys into the center of earth it feels like. When it dawned on me (not having actually seen the plans) that the performance center was literally a ball sitting in the middle of this buildings- I smiled with joy. Traveling to the center indeed.
Of all the design aspects of this building, I thought lighting scenes were actually some of the most interesting. Varying from strips of lights to clusters of fixtures, I was curious to the pattern of placement in terms of practicality.
We went to Miniatur Wunderland on this visit and while crowded, it was worth it to see the build of Hamburg, especially getting a preview of the Elbphilharmonie from all sides. They do a wonderfully detailed job!
Herzog and de Meuron are one of my favorite architects and we can consider this another one to keep them in that category.
[Written at https://ofallthespaces.com/2024/04/10/mexico-city-biblioteca-vasconcelos/]
Address: Platz d. Deutschen Einheit 4, 20457 Hamburg, Germany
Website: ArchDaily Write up
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