Hamburg is building a new landmark - the Elbe Philharmonic Hall by HdeM

Berlin - The German port metropolis of Hamburg today kicked off the construction of its new landmark. By the summer of 2010, it is expected to become the architecturally impressive Elbphilharmonie dominating the maritime port. The nearly two million inhabitants of this large city hope that the new cultural venue will rank among the leading concert halls in the world.
    "The Elbphilharmonie should become one of the ten best concert halls in the world,” does not hide the enthusiasm of Hamburg's mayor, Ole von Beust. After years of planning, he today laid the foundation stone of the generous futuristic project.
    The remarkable glass building with three concert halls, a hotel, luxury apartments, and a conference center will “settle” on the original imperial granary that extends deep into the river. The granary used to serve as a storage facility for cocoa, tea, tobacco, or coffee, and it will first undergo a complete renovation. The “undulating” glass superstructure on the granary's base will then resemble a swelling river. The largest of the halls will accommodate 2,200 spectators.
    The architectural competition was won by the Swiss duo Herzog & de Meuron. Despite the high costs, which gradually increased during the preparatory phase, the Hamburg City Hall approved the project last month. Currently, the construction is estimated at 240 million euros (almost seven billion crowns). The enthusiasm for the project in Hamburg is so great that 64 million euros have already been raised from sponsors, and the city has allocated 114 million.
    The original imperial granary from 1875 used to be a traditional landmark of the Hamburg port, where Czech workers also went in search of work in the past, or from where Czechs set off for a living in America. During World War II, the warehouse suffered extensive damage and gained a new, modern face in the 1960s.