As the world's northernmost capital and largest city in Iceland, it is unsure whether Reykjavik is a scaled-down city or scaled-up village at first glance. The low density of the city and the active waterfront harbor - paired with the vast surrounding Icelandic landscape - deceivingly miniaturizes the city. Housing 2/3 of Iceland's total population of around 300,000, it is the heart of the country's economic, cultural and governmental activities. Located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói Bay, you are always aware of the dramatic volcanic landscape that dominates the Icelandic Island with the flat-topped mountain of Esja looming across the bay.
Context : Reykjavik, Iceland
Case Study : Harpa Concert Hall and Conference Center
Alongside New York and Tokyo, the city of London is a multifaceted global entity, producing one of the world's most influential financial and cultural centers, while commanding governmental decisions as the capital city and largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom. With an official population of around 8 million (14 million in metropolitan area) and hosting the most international visitors of any city in the world, Greater London is considered the largest city in Western Europe and the European Union, making it crowded, vibrant and truly a multicultural city.
Context : London, England
Case Study : Tate Modern
Case Study : The National Theater
Case Study : The Royal Opera House
Notably referred to as ‘The Venice of the North’, Bruges has enjoyed a long and successful economic history as a strategic trading center dating back to the 12th century when a natural channel (the Zwin inlet) emerged off the Flemish coast, allowing the medieval city direct access to the North Sea coast. For the following three centuries Bruges’ urban fabric morphed into a cultural condenser, eagerly welcoming foreign merchants as the epicenter for established northern and southern trade routes. However, by the early 1500s, the Zwin channel would begin to silt and the immediate decline in the city’s economic activity would soon follow. Regardless of rapid maritime modernization to the area and a re-establishment of an oceanic connection, by 1900 Bruges had lost three-quarters of its population, with the majority of foreign trading houses moving to neighboring Antwerp. What was left behind was a preserved, but aging medieval city center.
Context : Bruges, Belgium
Case Study : The Concertgebouw
At first glance, modern Dublin can be characterized by its simplicity and informality, living off a Georgian Dublin aesthetic from the heyday of centuries past. Most buildings entail large proportions or grand spaces, but with little extraneous adornment, a much simpler model to the decadence of their European neighbors, which has much to do with the country's long run of economic constraints over simplistic design intentions. But what Dublin lacks in architectural ambitions, makes up for in civic vibrancy.
Context : Dublin, Ireland
Case Study : Grand Canal Theater
Valencia. Spain’s third-largest city has long waned in the shadows of neighboring metropolitan areas - Madrid (political capital) and Barcelona (economic capital). However, laying on the fertile banks of the Turia River on the east coast of the Iberian Peninsula, the city has always been a centralized and sought-after resource with strong maritime connections to the rest of Europe. Toward the end of the last millennium, the city that was widely overlooked by its larger urban siblings for so long was ready to mature. Perceived economic neglect by the central government (Valencia had the lowest investments in Spain) the city took charge - with increasing worldwide capital gains, cheap available credit and pride in turning a once little-considered place to becoming a cutting edge city - the Valencian government began to invest heavily on large-scale development and urban ‘beautification’ projects throughout the city with ambitions on gaining international interest and establishing itself as the ‘cultural capital’ of Spain.
Context : Valencia, Spain
Case Study : Queen Sofia Palace of the Arts
Sometimes referred to as "the City of Spires", Copenhagen is known for its horizontal skyline, only broken by spires at churches and castles. Walking through the city, you realize that Copenhagen has a multitude of districts/neighborhoods that create a dense urban fabric, each representing its time and own distinctive character, but all sharing a common denominator: water. Whether it be near a medieval canal, artificial lake, old harbor, beach shoreline, artificial island or even the strait of Øresund, the city is immersed by maritime culture. This ongoing relationship with the city's aquatic context, along with narrow medieval street grids, can prove to be difficult in terms of access and traffic infrastructure, which explains the city's car congestion problems and emphasis on more sustainable (pedestrian/bicycle) modes of transportation.
Context : Copenhagen, Denmark
Case Study : Royal Danish Playhouse & Copenhagen Opera House
Case Study : DR Concert Hall
Considered one of the world's great survivors, Finland has had to contend with a harsh northern climate and a hostile Nordic-European world, trapped between the aggressive ambitions of two historical heavyweights: Sweden and Russia. Finland can often be referred to as a country of 'forests and lakes', with more than 180,000 large lakes, numerous wetlands and a tree coverage of nearly 70% in the entire country, the world's highest concentration. The country's general area is considered a flat expanse of territory with a small topographical change compared to mountainous Norway, but that does not change the Finns' general, deep respect and understanding for nature that has always been trodden lightly with urban expansion.
Context : Helsinki, Finland
Case Study : Finlandia Park
Norway is a country dictated by the harsh expansive wilderness that is spread over an area almost the size of Japan. The land area is deeply cut by the long, narrow inlets of fjords and dominated by a mountainous terrain containing some of the world's largest glaciers, making only 3% of the entire country arable for cultivation. Historically, Norway has been mired in poverty, dependent on the export of natural resources (fishing, whaling & timber), without developing urbanization, and in political subjection to it's Scandinavian neighbors. The Norwegian people, isolated and callous, worked through the impossible extremes of nature, developing a symbiotic relationship with the surrounding environment and created a nationalistic attitude for the future.
“The nature of Norway is nature untamed by cultivation. Here in Norway nature is the norm, whereas in many other places it is the cultivated land that people take for granted.” - Sverre Fehn, Architect
Context : Oslo, Norway
Case Study : Oslo Opera House
Primarily associated with one of the major themes of medieval history, the city of Santiago de Compostela receives over 100,000 pilgrims a year by way of a thousand-year-old Christian pilgrimage (Camino de Santiago) to the shrine of St. James in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. Donning the scallop shell (a symbol of the pilgrimage route) and a wooden walking staff, these visitors in search of spiritual significance travelled from across Europe (and the world) to the Galician sanctuary in Northwest Spain to worship at the believed burial site of Saint James, one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ.
Context : Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Case Study : City of Culture
At the mouth of the Douro River sits the historic hillside city of Porto, home to one of the oldest urban centers (Ribeira district) in southern Europe and the second-largest city in Portugal. A mercantile city at heart, the area is strongely affected by its proximity to the Atlantic Ocean, boasting a variety of architectural and cultural influences that have evolved for over a millennia. The growing cosmopolitan city has perplexed those outsde of Porto, who considered the city to be more inelegant and working class than the rest of the country, likely due to the area’s long dominate mercantile history and lack of noble prescience, unlike its sister city to the South - Lisbon. However, while proudly Portuguese, the city holds itself apart from the rest of the country, knowing justifibly they are the economic heart of the nation with a higher sense of international culture and values.
Context : Porto, Portugal
Case Study : Casa da Musica
Visitors looking for Old World Europe appeal will not find it it Hamburg. About a quarter the city’s medieval center was virtually destroyed by the 4-day “Great Fire” in 1842, followed by World War II Allied bombing that decimated the remaining historic city. Today’s city center - originally formed by damming the Alster River that created two large artificial lakes - is a mixture of vibrant neighborhoods inundated with multicultural eateries, cosmopolitan commercial areas and affluent retail shops. Historical canals, estuaries and rivers define most of the city, complemented by a reported 2,500 bridges - more than Amsterdam, London and Venice combined. Rebuilding efforts have also made Hamburg the greenest city in Europe with nearly 50% of its surface area marked by landscape features that includes some 1,400 parks and gardens. In 2011, the city was voted the European Green Capital and is used as a case study for other large densely populated urban areas to achieve continued economic growth with smart technologies and environmentally sound concepts.
Context : Hamburg, Germany
Case Study : Elbphilharmonie Hamburg
Carrying the weight from almost 3,000 years of influential history, the city center of Rome (Roma) still seduces with a mixture of abounding antiquity, village-like sentiment and stylish metropolitan flavor. Today, often referred to as the ‘Eternal City’, Rome is still an eclectic place - full of of great artistry, diversity and civic activity. The urban core is the memorialized capital of the Lazio region, the center of Roman Catholicism, and the political capital of the entire Italian Republic, shaping it as the most populated and transient of modern Italian cities.
Context : Rome, Italy
Case Study : Auditorium Parco Della Musica
An urban-sized shrine to the Italian Renaissance movement, the city of Florence is famous for its prosperous cultural history and nostalgic appeal. Equidistant from Rome (south), Venice (northeast) and Milan (northwest) by just over 150 miles respectively, Florence is firmly established in the heart of Italy’s north-central Tuscany Region along the shores of the River Arno, famously surrounded by undulating hills covered with historic villas and twisting vineyards.
Context : Florence, Italy
Case Study : Florence Opera House
Just an hour south of Zurich by train, Lucerne sprawls along the shores of Lake Lucerne, surrounded by an imposing Swiss Alpine landscape in north-central Switzerland - most noticeably Mount Pilatus and Rigi. Today, Lucerne is the capital of the Canton of Lucerne and the most populous city in Central Switzerland, with major networks in transportation, telecommunications, and government activities for the region, as well as a major destination for international tourism. The city’s main draw - the well-preserved medieval Old Town - is located just north of the Reuss River, still exhibiting original half-timber building, exhausted remnants of old town fortification walls / watch towers scattered from the city to the hillside beyond, and famous historic covered bridges (the oldest in Europe).
Context : Lucerne, Switzerland
Case Study : Culture and Congress Center
