I was looking forward to seeing Harpa in Winter, with the evening lights display. I wasn't disappointed! A fabulous iconic building, well worth taking time to look around. 2 excellent shops to browse and a very good café.
To us, Harpa is an architectural and cultural gem. The concept hall is perched on the harbour by city center- a building encased in glass hexagonal tubes so if you look up from beneath you could be looking into a glass bee hive. While the look is striking, it harks back to Iceland's past. A volcanic island, there are striking basalt (molten igneous rock) formations everywhere (like shore formations at Reynisdrangar). With quick-cooling lava flows, basalt can crystalize into columns--the look of Harpa. (Sorry, I love rocks.)The building is also dramatic inside. It has clean lines, sharp angles and a view of the city through these unique colored window. Looking across the building from upper floors it almost seems we are in fun house at the circus--no right angles and everything seems a bit off kilter in the most amazing ways.We were lucky enough to snag last tickets to an Icelandic Symphony performance while there. The concert hall seats 1800 and there's really not a bad seat in the house. Because we bought late, we were in the third tier but still could see--and hear--everything. The hall shouts Chinese red--just spectacular. The sound boards--we were told--are made of special woods specifically for music amplification and they adjust the sound flow based on the specific performance. We just missed a jazz great the night before but the symphony was fabulous.Don't miss walking though or taking the paid tour. Better yet, see a performance. You won't regret it.
This place is amazing. It's interesting on the outside but when we ducked inside to get out of the wind, we discovered that it's far more special on the inside. One could easily spend and hour or more walking around photographing this place. The architecture is a visual treat and when you add in the fact that it has a cafe and a couple of shops to browse, something as seemingly mundane as a convention center becomes a worthwhile tourist attraction. Go see it!
This building is simply wow, the structure is fascinating even to me who knows nothing about buildings. There are lots of floors and you can get a guided tour behind the scenes too. You can take great photos and see for miles (unless it's snowing) so well worth dropping in. There is a cafe area downstairs and several gift shops. At night there are swathes of lights in all colours on the building which look amazing. If you are driving there is a car park underground with doors leading directly in, so if you are going to a concert you need not get rained on or blown around.
在雷克雅未克闲走,路过港口发现了这座现代化的建筑,走近一看原来是展览中心。底层在做一个关于野生鹿群的展览,一楼还有好几个金色银色外形的鹿,煞是好看。
Truly beautiful! Go inside and look up - wonderful ceiling.Our favorite gift shops in the city, also. Very helpful staff and nice selection of books and gift items.
If it's February I'd drop into the conference centre if only to warm up and find your extremities again. Take a walk up the stairs and catch fresh views around the harbour. Admire the windows (like fish scales someone said - thank you I'd missed that), take some arty photos and hope you're not ejected. Definitely an interesting venue for International conference of Frozen Food suppliers; the Fishing Industry Watchdog Executives and the Iceland Retail Staff New Year Party.
This building is so pretty at night with the ever changing colours. The structure is fascinating.It is on the waters edge so easy to get to and is well worth a look especially at night.Inside there is a shop and somewhere to get something to eat/drink. The is also plenty of parking to.
Built to resemble fish scales, this building is amazing. It is a sight to behold from the outside and when the light catches different windows. The inside is amazing too with very interesting architecture.