Nils Koenning

Like an iridescent crystal, the ever-changing glass sails of Hamburg’s new public philharmonic, the Elbphilharmonie, sit on top of the old Kaiserspeicher, a heritage listed former storage building.
Situated on the tip of the old Speicherstadt quarter, the Herzog & de Meuron designed building comprises a state of the art philharmonic hall, a hotel and private apartments.
The new crown visually and programmatically separates itself from the old building by inviting visitors onto the open plaza, a public forum space and entry level to hotel and philharmonic halls on top of the former storage facility.