Herzog& de Meuron designed a new cultural landmark of Hamburg's HafenCity titled 'the Elbphilharmonie,' which finally opens its doors on January 11 and 12, 2017 in Hamburg’s HafenCity. The new images of the Elbphilharmonie have been released in its website with the announcement of ticket sales for visitors. 

On the banks of the river Elbe on approx. 1,700 reinforced concrete piles a building complex has emerged, which, in addition to three concert halls, encompasses a hotel, 45 private apartments, and the publicly accessible Plaza with a 360° panoramic view of the city. The website also presents an online visual discovery of the Elbphilharmonie with a video tour alongside graphical functional divisions of the building in order to be familiar with its structural elements.

Image © Maxim Schulz

The centrepiece of the Elbphilharmonie is also one of the most exciting structural challenges in Europe at the moment: A world-class concert hall at a height of 50 metres with seating for 2,100, which is decoupled from the rest of the building for soundproofing reasons. The Elbphilharmonie is the perfect symbiosis of architecture and music at a unique site within the historic city port.

Image © Maxim Schulz

The interplay between the archaic appearance of the former warehouse known as the Kaispeicher A and the bold curve of the dazzling glass corpus is the architectural calling card of the Elbphilharmonie. Old and new conjoin in an exciting synthesis. Between the warehouse and the new construction there is an area accessible to the public, the Plaza. 

Nowhere else is the link between the docks and the city revealed as impressively as here. Visitors will be treated to a unique 360° panoramic view of the city from a height of 37 meters. 

Image © Maxim Schulz

Measuring about 4,000 square metres, the Plaza is almost as big as the one in front of the Town Hall and is an ideal place for Hamburg’s citizens and tourists, concertgoers and hotel guests to stroll. On the outside, there is a walkway around the entire building. On the inside are the foyers leading to the Grand Hall and the Recital Hall, a café and the hotel lobby. The Plaza will be accessible to any visitor, with or without a concert ticket! 

Image © Maxim Schulz

The Kaispeicher A itself will be used as a multi-storey car park with approx. 500 spaces. It also houses the spa facilities and conference rooms of the hotel, the music education area, several backstage rooms, and, not least of all, the third auditorium with seating for approx. 170. 

Image © Maxim Schulz

All this is contained within one building, whose impressive entrance is reached via an 82-metre long escalator. The escalator has a concave arch so its end cannot be seen from the beginning. The visitor is thus immersed into a glowing spherical tunnel. Glass sequins that reflect and refract the lights set the mood for the special ambience of this building.

Image © Maxim Schulz

Elbphilharmonie Hamburg’s opening concerts on 11 and 12 January 2017 will be outstanding, unique events that are open to all, with a total of 1,000 free tickets due to be given away worldwide. 170,320 music lovers from around the world have already registered for the ticket draw, with 100 winners selected during the first draw supervised by a notary on 10 June. One pair of tickets went abroad, to a winner in the Netherlands. Over the next few days, 350 additional winners will be informed of their good fortune: two free tickets each for the opening concerts.

Image © Maxim Schulz

Tickets for the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg and the Laeiszhalle can be easily booked online, by email, by telephone or in person at one of our ticket shops.

Image © Maxim Schulz

Elbphilharmonie Grand Hall. Image © Maxim Schulz

Elbphilharmonie cross section. Image © Herzog&de Meuron/Bloom images

Top image © Maxim Schulz

> via elbphilharmonie.de/en/