Elbphilharmonie Facade Completed

Although plenty of work still needs to be done on the inside before the building's completion next year, the cranes are finally down on this long-anticipated project in the midst of Hamburg’s HafenCity. Herzog & de Meuron's design places apartments and the Philharmonic atop the 19th century Kaispeicher A warehouse, what they describe as "strikingly radical and abstract." Further, in relation to the old building, they describe the addition of curved and cut panels of glass as "like an immense crystal, whose appearance keeps changing as it captures and combines reflections from the sky, the water and the city."

To see more photos – inside and out – of the Elbphilharmonie, visit Frankfurter Allgemeine (original article in German).