2015. Reykjavík, Iceland.
HARPA is a very pricey building in Reykjavík, Iceland. @ 200 Million Euros, it has some of Europe most innovative design and spaces. I’m not going to talk too much about it, everything can be found on wikipedia….
But what did strike me beyond the facades were the flexibility of the performance space. Almost all of the spaces were able to suited for more than one type of concert. There’s a performance room that was able to split into 2 in such a way that a mediation can be in one room while a rock concert is in another. Truly amazing.
Another thing is the atrium. It’s so grand and snaky, you can see all the way from the parking level all the way to the top.
Lastly, when the economy crashed in Iceland, the government stepped in and help financed this building. If only the US had such great support for good design.