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| BIG – designs for Hamburg State Opera, renders by Yanis Amasri (images: BIG) |
Hamburg State Opera is on the move, or at least plans to be. The architecture studio BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group) has unveiled plans for a waterfront home for Hamburg State Opera to replace the company’s existing 1950s theatre. To be built within the German city’s HafenCity quarter, the 45,000-square-metre venue will contain production and performance facilities for the State Opera and Hamburg Ballet, and the building will sit close to another architectural showpiece, the Elbphilharmonie.
Gardens and terraces wrap around the main volume, with visitors being able to move along the facades and glimpse performance and rehearsal spaces. Of course, the big question is, will the theatre be any good?
Jakob Sand (partner BIG) commented: “The main hall is the heart of the project – a space with state-of-the-art acoustics and perfect sightlines to the stage. Immersive concentric wooden rings shape the hall and its balconies, dissolve the boundaries between spectators and artists, between reality and fiction.”
Full details from the BIG website.




