The wind and waves, the toots of the ships’ horns and the buzzing of the elevated trains, construction site noises and the squawking of the seagulls – these create the soundscape of the harbour between quays, piers and the Speicherstadt. Directly on the banks of the Elbe, on the most westerly side of the HafenCity, Hamburg is building the Elbphilharmonie, the city's new landmark, which will open ist doors on January 11 and 12, 2017 – in every way a monument to music and the urban experience.Approaching the building from the Elbe and the Landungsbrücken, one can observe the bold architecture of the Elbphilharmonie: above the massive brick body of the old Kaispeicher A warehouse, the glass structure rises to a height of 110 metres. With its wave-like rooftop, it looks like a gigantic crystal floating over its foundation. In the sparkling glass façade, comprised of over a thousand window panels, one can see a reflection of the changing colours of the sky and the harbour lights.The heart of the Elbphilharmonie, designed by Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron, is the Grand Hall - a world-class concert hall with a seating capacity for 2,100 guests and a height of 50 metres, which will provide a spectacular stage for Hamburg's vibrant music scene and for stars from all over the world. Two smaller concert halls can be found in the Elbphilharmonie along with a hotel, a restaurant, 45 residential flats and the publicly accessible plaza with a 360° panorama view which will open already in November 2016.