{"id":263558,"date":"2025-11-15T02:48:22","date_gmt":"2025-11-15T02:48:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/263558\/"},"modified":"2025-11-15T02:48:22","modified_gmt":"2025-11-15T02:48:22","slug":"big-designs-hamburg-state-opera-as-landscape-of-concentric-terraces","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/263558\/","title":{"rendered":"BIG designs Hamburg State Opera as &#8220;landscape of concentric terraces&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Architecture studio <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dezeen.com\/tag\/big\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">BIG<\/a> has unveiled designs for a waterfront home for Hamburg State Opera, which will be enclosed by a series of interconnected <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dezeen.com\/tag\/terrace\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">terraces<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Set to be built on a peninsula within the German city&#8217;s HafenCity quarter, the 45,000-square-metre venue will contain production and performance facilities for the State Opera and Hamburg Ballet.<\/p>\n<p>BIG described its design as a &#8220;public building within a park&#8221; \u2013 consisting of a main volume and landscaped garden that will rise to meet elevated terraces on its upper floors.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-2269578 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/big-hamburg-state-opera_dezeen_2364_col_5-852x1198.jpg\" alt=\"Render of the Hamburg State Opera\" width=\"1681\" height=\"2364\"  \/>BIG has designed a waterfront home for Hamburg State Opera<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The opera will appear like a landscape of concentric terraces \u2013 emanating like soundwaves from a central beating heart of music, expanding outward into the harbor like ripples on the surface of the sea,&#8221; said studio founder Bjarke Ingels.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The result is a three-dimensional public park open and accessible from all sides, with expansive views in all directions \u2013 to the old city and the new, to Lohse Park and the industrial port,&#8221; he added.<\/p>\n<p>The quayside opera house, which will be situated close to the city&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dezeen.com\/tag\/elbphilharmonie\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Elbphilharmonie concert hall by Herzog &amp; de Meuron<\/a>, will be used in place of the State Opera&#8217;s existing 1950s venue.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-2269575 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/big-hamburg-state-opera_dezeen_2364_col_2-852x628.jpg\" alt=\"View towards new performance venue by BIG\" width=\"2364\" height=\"1743\"  \/>A garden and terraces will wrap around the main volume<\/p>\n<p>Renders of the venue reveal a central volume, which will contain the performance facilities, flanked by planted walkways at each level.<\/p>\n<p>Gaps between the curving walkways will form expansive glazed openings across the facade, offering views and additional entry points into the interior.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-2269576 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/big-hamburg-state-opera_dezeen_2364_col_3-852x1102.jpg\" alt=\"Timber staircase feature within the Hamburg State Opera\" width=\"1828\" height=\"2364\"  \/>Timber staircases will connect the interior spaces<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Visitors can move along the facades and glimpse into the foyer, rehearsal rooms, backstage areas and offices, revealing the complexity behind a working opera house,&#8221; studio partner David Zahle said.<\/p>\n<p>Around the main volume, an extensive garden designed by BIG&#8217;s landscape studio will draw its shape from &#8220;the movement of water&#8221; and manage storm surges through terraces, dunes and wetland gardens.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dezeen.com\/2025\/11\/11\/big-suzhou-museum-of-contemporary-art\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"191\" height=\"191\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/sq-big-suzhou-museum-of-contemporary-art-china-architecture_dezeen_1704_col_5-191x191.jpg\" class=\"excludeLightbox wp-post-image\" alt=\"Suzhou Museum of Contemporary Art by BIG\" decoding=\"async\" data-pin-nopin=\"true\"  \/><\/p>\n<p> BIG unveils Suzhou Museum of Contemporary Art topped with ribbon-like roof\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p>At ground level, stone walkways will lead visitors through the park&#8217;s staggered topography to a glazed entrance. Inside, a lofty foyer described by the studio as an &#8220;urban living room&#8221; will feature two sinuous timber staircases that rise through the building.<\/p>\n<p>A main performance hall will have a similarly sinuous design composed of &#8220;concentric wooden rings&#8221; that form curving balconies. Other spaces will include a smaller studio stage, rehearsal rooms and back-of-house facilities.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-2269577 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/big-hamburg-state-opera_dezeen_2364_col_4-852x629.jpg\" alt=\"Main hall interior of Hamburg State Opera\" width=\"2364\" height=\"1745\"  \/>The main hall will have a sinuous timber design<\/p>\n<p>Other projects recently unveiled by BIG include <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dezeen.com\/2025\/11\/11\/big-suzhou-museum-of-contemporary-art\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">the Suzhou Museum of Contemporary Art<\/a>, which will be topped with a ribbon-like roof, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dezeen.com\/2025\/10\/29\/big-solar-education-centre-east-river-park-new-york\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">a solar education centre for the renewed East River park in New York<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The renders are by Yanis Amasri.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Architecture studio BIG has unveiled designs for a waterfront home for Hamburg State Opera, which will be enclosed&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":263559,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[6225,6485,6486,28030,1120,96,145,8793,77451,43538,9103,40339,40340,40341,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-263558","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-big","12":"tag-design","13":"tag-entertainment","14":"tag-germany","15":"tag-hamburg","16":"tag-performance-venues","17":"tag-public-and-leisure","18":"tag-public-space","19":"tag-sectionall","20":"tag-sectionarchitecture","21":"tag-sectionnews","22":"tag-uk","23":"tag-united-kingdom","24":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263558","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=263558"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263558\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/263559"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=263558"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=263558"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=263558"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}