This instalment of the Master Buildings Series focuses on the Harpa Reykjavik Concert Hall and Conference Center, designed by the firms Henning Larsen Architects, Batteríið Architects and the artist Olafur Eliasson. Part of an impressive harbour development project in Reykjavik, the building was completed in 2011 and has become an iconic modern landmark on the Reykjavik shore. Its distinctive southern glass facade and innovative design, which explores light, color, nature, movement and sensory perception, are here insightfully explained and placed into context by architectural experts. The texts then go further, exploring the building's foundational ideas and concepts and the construction process itself. The book also features sumptuous photography depicting the building at both large and small scales and architectural plans, sections, models and sketches to give readers a definitive insight into this modern architectural classic.

• Book Series Master Buildings
  
• Photography by Nic Lehoux
• Edited by Oscar Riera Ojeda

Contributors Biographies

Olafur Eliasson. From a small team in 1995, when Eliasson first moved to Berlin, Studio Olafur Eliasson has slowly grown to its current structure in response to the possibility of generating a wide range of projects. The studio now consists of a team of about 45 people, from craftsmen and specialised technicians, to architects, artists, archivists and art historians, cooks, and administrators. They work with Eliasson to experiment, develop, produce, and install artworks, projects, and exhibitions, as well as archiving, communicating, and contextualising his work. Additional to the artworks realised in-house, Eliasson and his studio contract structural engineers and other specialists, and collaborate with curators, cultural practitioners, and scientists. Located in the same building as the studio, the Institut für Raumexperimente (Institute for Spatial Experiments), founded by Olafur Eliasson in 2009, investigates new approaches to arts education on a university level. The research project is affiliated with the visual arts department of the Berlin University of the Arts and runs for five years until spring 2014.

Henning Larsen Architects is an international architecture firm based in Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1959 by noted Danish architect and namesake Henning Larsen, it has around 165 employees. From its first successful projects in 1960 in Denmark to its global reach today, the company has always been characterised by a curiosity and vision that have won it awards across the world. Some of its most notable built works include the Danish Emabssy in Riyadh (1979), the Copenhagen Opera House (2004) and the Harpa Concert Hall and Conference Center (2011). The firm celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2009.

Nic Lehoux is a Canadian architectural photographer who works with architects that push the boundaries of design of the built environment. Nic is regularly commissioned to document significant buildings around the world with his unique eye, lighting and sense of composition. His images are frequently published in the international architectural press. His professional work puts a particular emphasis on incorporating people within tightly-composed architectural photographs. Nic is influenced by the concept of the “decisive moment” – popularized by Henry Cartier-Bresson – which he adapts to the rigors of architectural photography. His images therefore serve as a reflection on the interaction of people with the built environment.