| I think its not fair to put the Elbphilharmonie in the same category. The original plan looked very different from what was later realized. Which was a significant driver of the cost. Just for fun, lets compare it to the Sydney opera house: Elbphilharmonie, original projected cost: 186 Mio EUR Elbphilharmonie, final cost: 866 Mio EUR So in the end, 4.65x the projected cost and 7 years late. Sydney Opera house, original projected cost (inflation adjusted cost in parens): 7 Mio AUD (70 Mio EUR) Sydney Opera house, final cost: 102 Mio AUD (632 Mio EUR) So in the end: 9-14x the projected cost and 10 years late (depending on if you compare based on the inflation adjusted costs). Therefore, in comparison, not that dissimilar. |
After ousting Jorn Utzon[1] they tried to finish it on the cheap and running roughshod over the original plans they wound up with a totally iconic building (from the outside) and a terrible theatre and concert venue on the inside.
I haven't seen the Elb Philharmonie. But from what I heard it must be a fantastic venue in every respect.
[0] https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/jan/30/the-b...
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%B8rn_Utzon