When building in Iceland up to the elf hill Borgarholt it demands a special in depth understanding of Iceland’s history.
A completely new opera house for the Icelandic national opera deserves a building with presence and grace, a new cultural landmark for Reykjavik.
Arkitema and Arkthing’s winning proposal takes its concept based on these premises and has created a building both to the Opera, the elves, the capital’s residents and the town of Kopavogur in Reykjavik.




A building for the elves and other mythical beings:

Deep underground, in the highlands and under the cliffs around Iceland live the elves. Their dens are not visible from the outside, but it is believed that they live underground somewhere or other. From the outside the elves’ homes are dark and enclosed, but from the inside a radiant and crystalline space is revealed. The Opera’s expressional form with its heavy and massive lower floor level and its light and crystalline upper floor level refers to the mythical home of the elves. The heavy expression of the lower level is broken up with window openings that vary in size but which all replicate the cubic form.
Over the base the transparent shining cubic tower rises up, housing the main scene and the opera’s large concert hall which can hold an audience of up to 820 persons.
The facade of the shining cube is a glass screen with LED lights which give the facade an ever changing appearance, that through the course of a day changes in colour and strength. The characteristic cube is the Opera’s landmark that will light up Reykjavik, and from the interior be the Opera’s distinctive feature. The cube continues down through the building so that it is visible from the interior, allowing the large foyer area to look directly into the concert hall.
With the elf hill as their one neighbour and the town as the other, the Opera is situated between history, tradition, a modern urban district and a cultural landscape with a library, museum and cultural centre.




Project Description:

The Icelandic Opera reflects its location in its architectural expression. A location that is characterised by the cultural urban landscape, the Borgarholt elf hill and the church as its immediate neighbours. The initial concept for the Opera took its form from a cubic geometry that is replicated throughout the whole building both on the facade and the interior. The facade is characterised by the distinctive heavy base, broken up by the large cubic window openings. Above, in sharp contrast to the base, lies a shining and distinctive cube which continues through the entire building.
The building is flexible and simply constructed using the cubic form, which are also replicated in the concert hall, where the walls and balconies are created from various cubic forms which tie in with the building concept whilst providing acoustic regulation.
The Opera’s location next to the foot of Borgarholt hill provides a natural fall in terrain which is incorporated within the building, the entrance lobby’s two storeys rise up to the rest of the Opera building which is stretched over three storeys.

One enters the Opera from a little square, where three important cultural institutions are located. From the entrance one can either continue to the foyer area or go directly to the concert hall and restaurant. At the very top five roof gardens help to activate the building from top to bottom and provide the guests with a view across Reykjavik.


Source: Dezeen