Harpa Concert Hall

Harpa is Reykjavik's concert hall and conference centre, standing on the waterfront at Austurbakki 2 beside the Old Harbour. Opened in 2011, it is the home of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra and the Icelandic Opera. The building is best known for its glass facade, designed in collaboration with the Danish-Icelandic artist Ólafur Elíasson, whose faceted, honeycomb-like panels in shifting colours reflect the harbour, the sky and the city. In Iceland's changeable light the facade appears to change from hour to hour, and in the evening it can be lit with coloured displays. Inside, the main foyer is a multi-level space where the steel-and-glass structure frames views over Faxaflói bay and Mount Esja. The public areas are free to enter and include a shop, cafés and a restaurant, so many visitors simply walk through to see the architecture and the views. Four halls host classical concerts, opera, pop and jazz, plus festivals and conferences; Eldborg, the main hall, has a distinctive red interior. Guided tours of the building, seasonal and priced at about ISK 5,200, explain the design, the acoustics and the history of the project. A visit takes one to two hours, longer with a concert. Photographers usually shoot the facade from the harbour edge at golden hour, and from inside looking outward through the glass. Crowds are heaviest around midday when tour groups and cruise passengers arrive, and quietest in the early morning. Evening concerts are the best way to experience the halls themselves, and tickets are sold via the Harpa box office. Harpa is a short walk from Laugavegur and the Old Harbour, making it easy to combine with the whale-watching departure point and nearby waterfront museums in the city of Reykjavik, Iceland.