The hexagonal wall
1,800 glass blocks reflecting sea and sky.
Matthew Bellemare — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Holger Uwe Schmitt — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Holger Uwe Schmitt — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Holger Uwe Schmitt — CC BY-SA 4.0
The symphony plays weekly at prices reasonable by Icelandic standards; the programme is on the website and tickets sell online.
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A wall of volcanic glass on the harbour: Harpa concert hall (2011) is clad in 1,800 hexagonal glass blocks drawn from basalt columns, designed by the Icelandic-Danish artist Ólafur Elíasson with Henning Larsen Architects — reflecting sea and sky by day and lighting in shifting colours by night. Its story is part of the country's: construction began at the height of the banking boom and stopped the day of the 2008 crash, then the state decided to finish it alone as a symbol of recovery — making it the building of both crisis and revival, and winner of the European Mies van der Rohe architecture prize in 2013. Entry is free by day: you walk the foyer and climb the stairs among glass walls and reflections, with a small exhibition, cafés and a design shop. The Iceland Symphony Orchestra and the opera play here in the evenings, and architectural tours book by day.
1,800 glass blocks reflecting sea and sky.
Endless reflections between floors.
Austurbakki 2, Reykjavik