Saturday, June 04, 2022

The Saturday Morning Post: Harpa



 Harpa is the concert hall, convention center on the waterfront in Iceland.  It is all glass on the outside, and all amazing on the inside.  The real estate brokers of Iceland were holding a meeting when I was there, I still have a real estate brokers license, haven't used it in nearly 30 years.  Maybe I should have crashed their party, just for fun. 

Some see Harpa as a symbol of the collapse of the Iceland economy in the 2008-2009. Apparently it was built during the dot.com boom years, and the bill came due just as the world economy crashed. Iceland was especially hard hit, the banks had become a major financier of the north Atlantic lobster trade, and discovered that lobster does not make very good collateral when no one is buying it.  It is not like you can hold onto it, lease it out for five years until the market recovers (like office and apartment buildings, or ships and planes.) 

Iceland did end up with a world class spectacular landmark space.  One of a couple in Reykjavik, when you see this or the church I featured recently, you just know where in the world it is.  And a place for spectacular performance.  You can have great music anyplace, but a stage like this makes it all the more grand. 


A walk from the hotel, down to the waterfront, and along the waterfront to this was on my dream list when I booked the trip.  J was exhausted by the painful overnight flight wedged into a 737 Max, and elected to rest while I went out to explore.  I was tired, but wanted to do this, and I am so glad I did. A couple of hours of walking, taking photos and absorbing the place.  

10 comments:

  1. An amazing piece of architecture and so perfect for Iceland. I love it!

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    1. And a great location on the harbor, and it has parking.

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  2. Gorgeous building, and now I am off to search more photos of it.

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    1. I hope you find photos of the inside

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  3. It is indeed a spectacular building.

    If this comment gets through, please note that I comment on all your posts but Blogger eats them. Maybe check your spam file on Blogger to see if they're there? Thanks. I don't know what to do about it.

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    1. This one made it through. I have started checking the comment filter at least once a day. Google changed the filter, it is a work in progress.

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  4. It should be against the law to use a 737 for a flight lasting longer than 1 hour. Miserable plane for passenger comfort!

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  5. Wow, gorgeous place.

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