Iceland review - 2014, Page 83

ICELAND REVIEW 81
harpa’s conventions team. from left: karítas kjartansdóttir, Þóra björg jónasdóttir,
thelma sigurðardóttir and jón finnur ögmundsson.
A Stunning
Concert Hall and
Conference Center
in the North Atlantic
Harpa, the stunning building that opened by Reykjavík harbor
in 2011, was designed by Henning Larsen Architects and Bat-
teríið architects in collaboration with artist Ólafur Elíasson, who
created the magnificent glass facade. The building has won several
awards including the prestigious Mies Van der Rohe architectural
award for 2013/2014. Serving as a very successful concert hall, the
building has a second and no-less important function as a confer-
ence center.
A PRofessionAl ConfeRenCe TeAM
Karítas Kjartansdóttir, director of conferences at Harpa, explains
that the event and conference calendar for 2014 is looking very
busy with plenty of international guests. 2013 was also a brilliant
year for the conference department which hosted conferences and
events such as PopTech, Eve Online Fanfest, The Arctic Circle As-
sembly and many more. “Our conference department is steadily
growing and we are proud to have a highly professional and enthu-
siastic team,” explains Karítas, adding that the quality of service of
her staff has been highly praised by conference organizers.
An ideAl Venue foR lARGe inTeRnATionAl ConfeRenCes
“We have a variety of facilities to suit all kinds of occasions in Har-
pa,” says Karítas. “We offer small halls and meeting rooms, the
smallest being for 6-8 people, as well as larger halls such as Silfur-
berg which accommodates 750 and Eldborg main hall which ac-
commodates between 1,600 and 1,800 people. Our new reception
hall, Björtuloft, opened this year, offering incredible views and a
large balcony for receptions.” Karítas explains that the opportuni-
ties for Harpa are endless and that it is proving to be an ideal venue
for large international conferences.
50 Percent Increase In BookIngs
It usually takes several years to build up the reputation of a confer-
ence venue and therefore the success of Harpa is quite remarkable
in such a short period of time. Even when the building opened in
2011, several international conferences were booked, and in the
last year conference and event bookings increased by an incred-
ible 50 percent. “We can be proud of our achievement and this
successful start inspires us to do great things in the future,” Karítas
concludes.

Harpa, now in its third consecutive year of
business, makes a successful start.
CONVENTIONs