Tour Guide
Harpa Concert Hall and Conference Centre in Reykjavik, with its geometric glass facade

Entertainment Venue

🎭 Harpa Concert Hall

Reykjavik's glass honeycomb on the harbour — where the Icelandic Symphony performs beneath a colour-shifting facade

Photo: H. Zell · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0

What is there to do at Harpa Concert Hall?

Harpa Concert Hall stands at the intersection of Reykjavik's Old Harbour and the modern city waterfront, its geometric glass honeycomb facade changing colour with the Arctic light from hour to hour and season to season. There are three distinct ways to experience it. You can walk the free public atrium at any time during building hours; you can join a daily guided architecture tour that opens the backstage areas and the upper foyers; or you can attend a performance — a symphony concert, an opera, a jazz set, or a festival show — in one of the building's four halls. It is the permanent home of the Icelandic Symphony Orchestra (Sinfóníuhljómsveit Íslands), which has run a full professional season here since the hall opened, and of the Icelandic Opera.

Opened in 2011 — the concert hall was inaugurated on 4 May 2011 and formally opened that August — Harpa was designed by Henning Larsen Architects with the Icelandic practice Batteríið Architects, and its shimmering exterior was created by artist Olafur Eliasson. It won the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture — Mies van der Rohe Award in 2013, the most prestigious architecture award in Europe, and has become Reykjavik's most internationally recognisable building after Hallgrímskirkja. The building operates across four halls: the Eldborg Hall (around 1,800 seats) for major concerts, the mid-sized Silfurberg, and the smaller Norðurljós (Northern Lights) and Kaldalón halls for chamber music, jazz, and intimate events.

Harpa's story is inseparable from Iceland's 2008 financial collapse. The building was conceived in the boom years and broke ground in 2007; when the country's three major banks failed within a single week — triggering the worst per-capita financial crisis of the global recession — the mixed-use development planned for the surrounding Austurhöfn land was abandoned, and Harpa was left half-built. The decision to complete it was politically controversial but ultimately vindicated: the EU architectural prize and the hall's rapid establishment as the anchor of a revitalised waterfront turned it into a symbol of recovery. Its position on reclaimed land at the edge of the Ægisgarður harbour was a conscious effort to reconnect Reykjavik to its maritime identity, a century-old working port gradually reopened to culture and leisure from the 2000s onward.

The atrium is free to enter and walk through at any time — a public space on the waterfront that functions as a lobby, meeting point, and exhibition space simultaneously. The glass geometry overhead creates an extraordinary play of light through the day, particularly in the low-angle Arctic winter sun that tracks across the southern horizon for just a few hours before setting. Evening LED illumination transforms the exterior into a shifting light artwork visible across the harbour, and it makes an easy pairing with a walk up to Hallgrímskirkja or an afternoon at the National Museum of Iceland on the far side of the city centre.

Events Schedule

Harpa runs a year-round programme across genres. Highlights of the calendar:

  • Icelandic Symphony Orchestra — the ISO's main season runs roughly September to June, with flagship subscription concerts in Eldborg (often on Thursday evenings) plus family and film-with-orchestra programmes; its repertoire and schedule are published by the orchestra itself.
  • Icelandic Opera — staged productions and concert performances, the largest of them in Eldborg.
  • Chamber music and jazz — smaller-scale series in Norðurljós and Kaldalón, where the intimate scale suits solo recitals, string quartets, and contemporary work.
  • Reykjavik Arts Festival (Listahátíð, late May–early June) — Iceland's flagship multi-arts festival uses Harpa as a principal venue alongside sites across the city.
  • Iceland Airwaves (early November) — the internationally known new-music festival turns Harpa into a festival hub, with stages here and in bars and venues across Reykjavik.
  • Conferences and one-off events — Silfurberg and the upper foyers host congresses, award ceremonies, and corporate events, which is why parts of the building are occasionally closed to casual visitors.
  • Daily guided tours — building tours in English run at set times year-round and include areas normally off-limits to the public.

Because the schedule shifts weekly and popular concerts sell out, always check the current listings on Harpa's official programme before planning a visit around a specific performance.

Seating Guide

Knowing the halls helps you choose seats and set expectations. Harpa's four principal spaces differ sharply in scale and acoustic character:

  • Eldborg (main hall, around 1,800 seats) — a deep red-toned horseshoe with stalls, terraces, and balconies. Its adjustable acoustic system moves ceiling and wall panels to change reverberation time — from roughly 1.5 seconds for amplified events to around 2.1 seconds for full orchestral performance — so the same room serves rock shows and Mahler symphonies. For orchestral concerts, seats in the centre stalls and the first terrace give the most balanced sound; the far sides of the stalls sit under the overhang and lose some upper detail.
  • Silfurberg (mid-sized) — a flat-floored, reconfigurable hall used for conferences, awards, and amplified concerts rather than acoustic orchestral work; sightlines depend on the seating layout chosen for each event.
  • Norðurljós ("Northern Lights", around 450) — named for its deep-blue and shifting-colour interior, this is the venue for chamber music, jazz, and contemporary performance, with strong sound from almost every seat.
  • Kaldalón (around 195) — the smallest and most intimate hall, ideal for solo recitals, film screenings, and talks; there are no bad seats.

Book Eldborg seats early for the symphony's December Christmas programme and for touring names, which sell out first; the mid-week ISO concerts often keep availability closer to the date.

When to Visit

Building hours: 8 AM–midnight daily. Best natural light in the atrium: midday in winter (November–February), when the low sun enters at a dramatic angle through the south-facing quasi-brick glass. Best exterior photography: sunset, when the west-facing facade catches the last light and the LEDs begin to activate. Guided tour timing: the 10 AM tour avoids afternoon cruise-ship groups. Evening performances typically start at 7:30 PM or 8 PM — arrive 30 minutes early to enjoy the pre-concert atmosphere in the atrium. Café and restaurant: on-site, open through the day and into the evening before and after performances.

Admission and Costs

Atrium entry: Free — the ground-floor public space is open during building hours (8 AM–midnight). Guided building tours: ISK 1,700 (about $12) adults, ISK 700 children; run daily at 10 AM, 12 PM, and 3:30 PM in English. Concert tickets: ISK 3,500–12,000 ($25–$85) depending on programme and seat; the Icelandic Symphony's midweek concerts often have availability close to the performance date. Iceland Airwaves festival passes: ISK 20,000–30,000 ($145–$215) for the November festival. Photography in the atrium: Permitted and encouraged — the geometric glass ceiling is one of Reykjavik's most photographed interior spaces. Prices and tour times change seasonally, so confirm them on Harpa's official site before your visit.

The Case for a Guide

Harpa rewards a deeper look than a photograph from the harbour can provide:

  • Olafur Eliasson's design logic: A guide who understands Eliasson's broader practice — his installations at Tate Modern (The Weather Project), his Little Sun solar-light project — can explain why the Harpa facade is a direct extension of his lifelong preoccupation with perception, natural light, and the experience of scale. The quasi-brick modules aren't simply decorative; they reference the crystalline structure of basalt in the same way Hallgrímskirkja references basalt columns.
  • The 2008 crisis context: A guide who was in Reykjavik during the kreppa (crash) conveys what it meant to complete a major cultural building in 2011 — and why the EU Prize in 2013 felt like an international signal of recovery at a moment when Iceland's economic narrative had changed from catastrophe to comeback.
  • Acoustic design of Eldborg Hall: The main hall's adjustable acoustic system — panels that move to alter reverberation time depending on whether the programme is orchestral, chamber, or amplified — represents some of the most sophisticated concert-hall engineering in northern Europe.
  • Symphony and opera context: A guide familiar with the ISO's repertoire can recommend specific concerts and explain why Iceland's tiny population (about 380,000) has sustained a full professional symphony orchestra since 1950 — a ratio of musicians to citizens that would be unsustainable in most larger nations, and a thread that runs through the wider story told at the National Museum of Iceland.

Tips for Visitors

  • Walk through the atrium for free — the public ground-floor space is worth visiting on its own, no ticket required.
  • Time your visit for changing light — the facade is most dramatic photographed from the harbour at sunset or under the low winter sun, and from inside at midday.
  • Book symphony tickets in advance — popular ISO concerts sell out, especially the December Christmas programme.
  • Combine with whale watching — boats depart the Old Harbour immediately south of Harpa, so a morning tour pairs naturally with an afternoon building visit or evening concert.
  • Plan around Iceland Airwaves (November) — the festival turns Harpa into a hub alongside venues across the city; book passes months ahead as it sells out internationally.

Frequently Asked Questions

How was Harpa designed, and what makes the facade unusual?

Harpa was designed by Henning Larsen Architects of Copenhagen with the Icelandic firm Batteríið Architects, in collaboration with Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson, who created the building's defining exterior — a geometric honeycomb facade of quasi-brick glass modules that catch and reflect light differently throughout the day. The panels are not simple flat glass: the south face is built from twelve-sided steel-and-glass quasi-bricks, three-dimensional cells that stack like a crystalline wall, while the remaining facades use flatter two-dimensional versions of the same geometry inspired by basalt rock formations. Colour-changing LEDs behind the glass animate the facade at night. The effect is that Harpa appears to shift from emerald green to gold to deep blue depending on the angle of light and the season — in Arctic winter the brief sun tracks low across the southern sky, and the building glows amber for an hour before darkness returns. Eliasson's intention was to make the building feel like a geological formation at the edge of the sea: mineral and natural rather than industrial.

What performances and events take place at Harpa?

Harpa is the home of both the Icelandic Symphony Orchestra (Sinfóníuhljómsveit Íslands, ISO) and the Icelandic Opera (Íslenska óperan), performing across the building's four halls of different capacities. The main Eldborg Hall seats around 1,800 and hosts the symphony's full-scale concerts, international touring orchestras, and major pop and rock events. The mid-sized Silfurberg and the smaller Norðurljós (Northern Lights) and Kaldalón halls host conferences, chamber music, jazz, and contemporary performance. The building also anchors the Reykjavik Arts Festival (Listahátíð) in late May–early June and the Iceland Airwaves music festival each November — events that draw international audiences specifically to Reykjavik. Guided tours of the building run daily and include access to areas normally closed to the public. The current programme is published on Harpa's official site.

What is the story of Harpa's construction in the 2008 crisis?

Harpa's construction coincided almost exactly with Iceland's catastrophic 2008 banking collapse — the building was conceived during the boom years, broke ground in 2007, and was delivered in 2011 in a country that had experienced the worst per-capita financial crisis in modern history. The original plan called for a large mixed-use development including a hotel, offices, and apartments on the surrounding Austurhöfn waterfront; the crisis halted that development, leaving Harpa standing alone on the reclaimed harbour land for several years. The Icelandic state and the City of Reykjavik ultimately decided to complete the concert hall as a point of cultural pride and economic signal at a moment when the country's global reputation was at its lowest. In 2013, Harpa received the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture — Mies van der Rohe Award — the continent's highest architectural honour — validating the decision to build it in the most difficult possible economic circumstances.

Is Harpa worth visiting if you are not attending a concert?

Yes. The ground-floor atrium is free and open to the public every day, and it is one of Reykjavik's most rewarding interiors even without a ticket. Standing beneath Eliasson's quasi-brick ceiling as the light shifts through the geometry is the single most photographed indoor view in the city, and the space doubles as a lobby, café, exhibition hall, and harbour-side meeting point. Many visitors combine a walk through the atrium with a guided architecture tour (about 45 minutes) that explains the facade and opens the backstage areas, or simply pair it with the Old Harbour whale-watching boats that leave from the quay immediately south. If you have only an hour in this part of the waterfront, the atrium, the harbour view, and the exterior facade at dusk are worth the detour on their own.