2007
Elbphilharmonie - Hamburg - Germany
What is being created in Hamburg amidst great media - and now, legal - attention is, in principle, an add-on project.
The project was initially conceived as an act of architectural conservation: the Kaispeicher A warehouse building (built in 1966) had fallen into disrepair, but was to be preserved as a historic highlight of the new HafenCity.
In this case, however, the add-on has become an overwhelming superstructure: the ostentation of the building’s sculptural architecture leaves the old Kaispeicher supporting the dazzling new philharmonic hall like a humble prop.
Beneath the glass structure of the new Elbphilharmonie by Herzog & de Meuron that seems to float into the sky, the historic brick warehouse was carefully gutted and an entirely new building erected within its walls.
The original building now only exists as a thin, historical husk.