“Harpa” awarded the Mies van der Rohe Award

The most prestigious European architectural award, the Mies van der Rohe Award, was awarded this year to the Concert Hall and Conference Center Harpa in Reykjavik.
The project is characterized by a special lighting concept implemented by the company Zumtobel.

The Mies van der Rohe Award was presented in Barcelona on June 7, 2013. This award, endowed with €60,000 and given every two years by the EU commission and the Mies van der Rohe Foundation, focuses on contemporary architecture. This year, the Concert Hall and Conference Center Harpa in Reykjavik was honored, with the lighting solution's concept and its implementation prepared and executed by Zumtobel.

Revitalized Harbor
Since August 2011, the "Harpa" center has offered space for congresses, meetings, concerts, the Icelandic opera, and the symphony orchestra. This building, equipped with a concert hall for 1,800 spectators and three other smaller halls, is now part of the international cultural peak. The justification for the award states that the building has contributed to the revitalization and renewal of the harbor and improved connectivity to the city.

The smooth interplay of local and global influences is not least the work of the designers – particularly the architectural offices Henning Larsen Architects from Denmark and Batteríið Architects from Iceland, along with the New Yorker acoustic consultancy Artec Consultants.

Modern Art Creating Distinct Images by Reflecting Light
An extremely important role was played by the Icelandic-Danish artist Ólafur Elíasson, who is responsible for the realization of the building's unique glass casing and who has fostered long-term collaboration and partnership with the lighting solution specialists at Zumtobel. The concept for the lighting center aimed to stage light as a transcendental event and experience, with the light source remaining hidden.

Together with Ólafur Eliasson, Zumtobel developed a new type of light fixture that is almost invisibly integrated in shape and color into the prismatic structure of the facade, illuminating it with LEDs.

Five Finalists
The "Harpa" project won against the other finalists, which included Metropol Parasol in Seville, the town hall in Dutch Ghent, Superkilen in Copenhagen, and a senior citizens' home in Portugal. The “Emerging Architect Special Mention” was awarded to Maríi Langarita and Víctor Navarro for the project Nave de Música Matadero (Red Bull Music Academy) in Madrid.

Zumtobel. The Light.