Germany is known for its beautiful architecture and the Germans are famous in all forms of art. Germany is a great economic power and the country has never stepped back on any of its decisions, especially in its constructions dedicated to its art and architecture and a great example to prove this, is the stunning “Elbphilharmonie”
Elbphilharmonie is one of the most beautifully constructed concert halls in Germany. It is located in the Hafen city quarter of Hamburg, Germany on the Grasbrook peninsula of the Elbe river. The construction of this great hall has a long history behind it. It was constructed at a historically significant place which in 1875 was the “ The Santorhafen docks” also known as “Kaiserspeicher”-The magnificent Neo-Gothic building served as a warehouse in Hamburg and emerged as an important landmark when the city became the major centre of international trade. It was completely destroyed during the Second World War and was detonated in 1963. Later in 1966, the Kaiserspeicher A was erected in the same site and continued to be a storage space for tobacco, cocoa, and tea which again lost its significance and remained empty with the rise in container transport. The building that had been empty for years was revived partially when the government approved the site for the construction of the Elbphilharmonie on April 2nd, 2007 and laid its foundation stone. This tallest inhabited building was designed by the architectural firm Herzog and De Meuron.
The Kaiserspeicher A wasn’t completely torn down for the construction of the Elbphilharmonie, its brick facades remained intact. As the Elbphilharmonie was estimated to be 200,000 tonnes, in addition to the existing 1,111 concrete piles, 650 more piles were rammed 15 meters deep into the mud of the Elbe river. The interplay between the old- fashioned appearance of the Kaiserspeicher A and the modernized glass finish adds to the uniqueness of this architecture.
These glass facades consist of multiple panes measuring four to five meters wide and three to five meters high, the precisioned and uniquely shaped panes for the windows is an engineering masterpiece. To reduce the Sun’s heating effect and also to produce a shimmering effect, the glass facade is marked with small basalt grey reflective dots. The glass surface itself extends to 16,000 square meters which is a size equivalent to two football fields.
The Grand Hall is the heart of the Elbphilharmomie, which was constructed following the vineyard architecture. It has rows of 2100 seats rising steeply which provides the audience an unobstructed sight of the entire stage. The Orchestra will assemble in the middle of the stage to elevate the view and focus. The hall promises to give an excellent listening experience to each and everyone in the audience. The 12,500 tonne hall rests on 362 giant spring assemblies and is thus dissociated from the rest of the building for sound-proofing reasons. To make its acoustics perfect, a special material called “White skin” had been developed by the renowned acoustics specialist “Yasuhisa Toyota”.The Elbphilharmonie contains two other concert halls: The Recital Hall and The Kaistudio. With all it’s tiring efforts, Germany completed the construction of one of the largest and acoustically perfect concert halls on 31st October 2016. The first public test concert was held on 25th November 2016. The official opening concert took place on 11 January 2017. The NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra under the direction of Thomas Hengelbrock performed on that day with the first musical selection being “Pan”from Benjamin Britten’s Six Metamorphoses after Ovid. The musical heartbeat of the hall has left an impact on many international stars.
Though this construction has made the Germans proud, it also was criticized for its cost and schedule overruns. The construction began with an estimate of 241 million Euros in 2007 but it rose to 450 million Euros in 2008. With the additional requirement for a strengthened roof, again the cost went up to 500 million Euros in 2012. Finally, the construction ended at an exorbitant cost of 866 million Euros in 2016. The country, nevertheless, took all these obstacles constructively and is now the proud owner of such a splendid and unquestionably charming Symphony hall.
ELBPHILHARMONIE - A MUST VISIT PLACE IN HAMBURG, TO WITNESS A MEMORABLE CONCERT EXPERIENCE.
