Danish architect Bjarke Ingels just unveiled his finalized design for Prague’s ambitious philharmonic hall on the Vltava river – “Just once in my lifetime to do something like the Sydney Opera House, then I could die happy,” says the architect

by GPwat

44 comments

  3. This looks wonderful, but why would he mention SOH? Any comparison just makes this look worse, in my opinion.

  6. Looks atrocious. But at least it is better than Eastern bloc architecture.

  8. So he just copied the design of the Oslo Opera, nice & easy – hope it actually looks good when build.

  9. i dunno i kinda like it

    the area where it is supposesd to be is really ugly and not accesible, so this could be a great addition

  10. He just mashed the Sydney, Oslo and Copenhagen Operas together. This seems derivative.

  12. I’m usually not a big fan of these types of buildings but this looks great

  13. >See the renders

    Ok, it doesn’t look bad

    >See the current location

    Well, it could be a huge pile of shit it would still look better than what’s currently there

  17. I think it looks nice — airy, modern enough but shouldn’t also look dated after a while. 

  18. Are there any particular Czech/Prague-related motifs or design elements in the design?

  19. To me it feels like there are too many vertical columns, especially on the 1st pic. I think they make the silouette too busy and the shape of the roof less pronouced because of all the supports.

    I’m not an architect or a builder, just saying.

    edit: typo

  20. Normaly I’m not a fan of his work but I really like this. The columns and the cascading roofs make it look like there is water dripping down the building, really nice.

  21. *Danish architect Bjarke Ingels just unveiled his finalized design for Prague’s ambitious philharmonic hall on the Vltava river – “Just once in my lifetime to do something like the Sydney Opera House, then I could die happy,”*

    And this is one of the problems with architects: instead of trying to design inviting, beautiful, warm, pleasing to look at, pleasing to live/work in, harmonious, subtle, walkable, high quality and urbanistically sound buildings, streets, neighborhoods, they instead want to design “something like Sydney Opera House” and then die happily.

  22. i hate modern architecture

    why people dislike stone and bricks so much

    compare this to the vienna opera 🤢

  26. Looks lit, but want to see it from above, often the Sydney one is recognized from above.

  28. As a Czech, of course i’d preffer something not so “placeless” (aka a building that could be anywhere in the world. not just in Prague) however considering that the location is a disgusing highway brownfield and the city is already planning to build a new district there, i support it.

  29. There are reasons to be excited, but this is certainly not on the level of the Syndey Opera House.

  30. Bjarke Ingels is such an overrated architect. He supposed to design entire quarter of new buildings in Warsaw. What he presented looked like a shopping mall. Thank God, they replaced him with someone else.

  31. I’m a grouchy reactionary on like 90% of aesthetic related topics, but this actually looks quite nice.

  33. The first picture looked like a really cool suspended outdoor go kart track. But instead of the sound of petrol power it will sound like a tote sack of cats getting thumped.

  34. Is it just me or does the design feel kinda old? Like something you would see built in 60s-80s

  36. While I like traditional architecture this is also a great modern design, it’s not often modern design looks good like this.

  37. Gives me severance vibes and I love it. I am actually a fan of modern designs that are beautiful. There are many great Danish architects.

  38. It’s not bad, but I don’t get any Sydney Opera House vibes from this at all. It’s not iconic or special, it’s just a modern Opera House. Not even a bad modern Opera House, just a generic modern Opera House. Good, but not *great*

  39. Central Europe getting more beautiful, consistently. Quite often we see some nice renovation or new project from Czechia or Poland. That’s what happens when you finally get rich after half a century of communism. Prague & Warsaw’s GDP is already on Western levels. Those are rich cities that can afford to invest in their cultural places.

  40. For Christ’ s sake, man can’t u just stop this? I love Prague so much and your pictures just brilliant. But now I’m Ukrainian in Ukraine and I simply don’t know, if I’ll get a chance to see these beauties ever…

    PS just jealous, make your city even more beautiful

  42. > something like the Sydney Opera House

    Okay, but this resembles something like a mall, doesn’t it?

  43. It already looks dated. I’ve seen sooooo many buildings like this one, this is not original.

    I have used this [link](https://www.designboom.com/architecture/bjarke-ingels-final-design-vltava-philharmonic-hall-prague-01-25-2024/) to see additional renders.

    Imagine the grey concrete and dirty windows, and it will soon look like an abandoned office space, or a bent parking lot.
    Even with regular pressure water cleanings and window cleaners, that is a large area to protect and it will never look like the 3d renders. Materials that age gracefully should be added to reduce the cleaning stress. Maybe copper, or wood, or natural stone.

    They say they will use a lot of wood and granite, but given the building shape, only steel beams and reinforced concrete will handle the load. Wood and granite will be a decorative exterior layer, an afterthought if you will.

    Add to this the ecological nonsense of having large windows: hard to heat in winter and too hot in summer, plus the over-used concrete.

    Seeing the gigantic windows in front of the restaurant guests, and overlooking a piano, makes me want to bring sunglasses and get naked from the heat. Which is frowned upon at a restaurant/concert. They pretend the terraces will provide shade, but given the humongous ceiling height, it will only work from 11AM to 14PM.

    This building would be prettier if a large part of the giant glass surfaces were made of carved wood, with nice Prague-themed things like a coat of arms or poems, or busts of important people that lived there, or names of famous Opera composers…Heck, even a large blank wall dedicated to graffiti/street-art would give it a more modern look.

    If glass really HAS to be used, then a tint will help.

    Then, add some plants and trees on the upper and lower levels. Maybe cover some walls with a plant-wall like moss or ferns.
    Mixed-use like a park on the outside that is accessible even when the opera is closed would be a nice feature, with spots to chill and see the surrounding city. The current design relies too much on the inside being always operational (most notably the restaurant, but also the elevators).

    In addition, nobody will use the outside terraces if it rains. The corners of the highest terraces are guaranteed to have winds that will make sitting uncomfortable. The infinite slope will be hell to navigate if it freezes in winter. You will be cooked by the summer sun before even reaching the top.
    Imagine the same design with a double set of trees along the path and already, you get cover and less depression.
    Sure, it would increase the weight and thickness of the terrace structure and break the lines…but some textile tent-like covers would also work and weigh less. Add some potted plants along the way and you get a nice stroll away from the city.

    So here are all my recommendations:
    – move away from glass and concrete, rely more on wood and natural stone, add bio-surfaces.
    – accept larger pillars to make the change of materials possible
    – cover the terraces with either trees, or tents, or the building itself.
    – change from an infinite slope to an actual terrace shape (like a rice field) with an optional ramp for accessibility as an alternative to the elevators for the clement weather days
    – move the elevators and metro access and restaurants outside of the building so significant maintenance can take place inside or outside without crippling the whole building.
    – add explicit cultural reference on the outside (carved walls, statues, temporary art exhibits).

    All of this can be achieved with the same budget as previously envisioned (maybe a bit more expensive for the natural stone, but you’ll recoup that expense on less regular cleanings).

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