Hamburg's Elbphilharmonie: from delay-ridden project to landmark

A historic harbor storage facility and a glass structure that seems to float in the air: The upper part rests on 362 gigantic steel springs, preventing any sounds from the harbor from penetrating into the concert hall.

The most striking part of the facade is its roof, which seems to emulate waves on the water - and sound waves. Hamburg is, after all, proud of its music history. The young George Frideric Handel once had his works performed at the Gänsemarkt Opera - and Johannes Brahms was born in the city.

At an altitude of 37 meters (121 feet), the plaza is freely accessible to the public. It joins the original harbor storage facility with the stupendous glass construction above. The terrace outside affords a spectacular panoramic view of the city. The plaza leads to two concert halls, a restaurant and a hotel with 250 rooms. The facility also includes 45 luxury apartments.

Construction work began in Jahr 2007. First, the lower structure had to be restored. In the red brick harbor historic facility, tons of coffee and tobacco were once stored for shipment. During the ten years of construction the Elbphilharmonie became synonymous for building scandals. In 2011, over 4000 defects were counted.

The Elbphilharmonie was supposed to open in 2010 - but was finished seven years later, even though construction workers sometimes worked around the clock. Initial construction costs were estimated at 77 million euros ($85.6 million), but final costs exceeded 10 times that amount. The cost overlays are carried by taxpayers but are supposed to be partially replenished with funds from investors.

Visitors have made pilgrimages to the construction site for years now, their numbers reaching 30,000 a year. Christoph Lieben-Seutter, general director of the Elbphilharmonie, tried to put a good face on the interminable delays. "For good things, you just have to wait," he said.

The graceful curves of the building's roof echo throughout the architecture - even here, on the terrace of one of the 45 luxury apartments with garage-door-sized windows and a majestic view of the harbor.

Swiss architects Pierre de Meuron (shown here) and Jacques Herzog had a vision - and communication problems with the construction firm. The latter complained that the architects supplied their plans too late. The architects, in turn, charged the Hochtief company with construction defects. A 2014 parliamentary investigation found both "inaccurate project design and incomplete planning."

The Elbphilharmonie quickly became the city's problem child. This image shows Hamburg residents protesting at the "topping-out" ceremony in 2010. While construction costs skyrocketed, fees for public pre-schools increased and one municipal museum had to be temporarily closed down in order to ease pressure on the city's budget.

From the start of construction, the Elbphilharmonie has been a trademark of Hamburg. Along with Sydney's Opera House, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Walt Disney Hall in Los Angeles and New York's Lincoln Center, it was assured to be considered one of the world's leading cultural sites.

A concert hall would be nothing without its audience. This computer-simulated view gave an idea of the concert hall would look before its opening. The design aims to provide equally good sound at each of the 2,150 seats located on the terraces of the concert hall. Responsible for that is the Japanese acoustical engineer Yasuhisa Toyota, considered one of the world's best.

Author Joachim Miscke and photographer Michael Zapf illustrate the construction project of the century that is the Elbphilharmonie - with all its trials, tribulations and heated debates - in a 250-page book published in German and English by Edel Verlag.