Conceived by the Danish architectural offices of Henning Larsen, Harpa is a new concert hall located at the old harbor of Reykjavik. The concert hall and conference center are home to the national symphony orchestra and the opera, and stand as a symbol of hope, having been successfully completed in spite of the country's debilitating financial crisis. The spectacular entry façade, 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.
