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The European Commission and the Mies van der Rohe Foundation have announced Harpa, the Reykjavik Concert Hall and Conference Center in Iceland, as the winner of the 2013 European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture - Mies van der Rohe Award. — bustler.net
The 'Emerging Architect Special Mention' award goes to María Langarita and Víctor Navarro for the Nave de Música Matadero (Red Bull Music Academy) in Madrid, Spain. Previously: Five Finalists for 2013 EU Prize for Contemporary Architecture - Mies van der Rohe Award View full entry
The facade of Harpa is the work of an artist, the Icelandic-Danish Olafur Eliasson, who gets more attention and a higher billing than the hall's architects, the 52-year-old practice Henning Larsen Architects. They wear sober suits; Eliasson's leather waistcoat and silver-framed shades suggest creative leadership. His job is to provide that service that would once have been performed by Corinthian columns and statues of buxom nudes: to endow the house of culture with meaning and importance. — guardian.co.uk
The new glass Harpa Concert Hall in Reykjavik is finally complete, opening for business this month. Designed by jack-of-all-trades Olafur Eliasson and Henning Larsen Architects, the project started construction last year right after Iceland’s economy tanked, but has proven itself to be a beacon of the promised recovery. The glittering hall mimics basalt crystals which are indigenous to Iceland. — Inhabitat
