Sydney Opera House: A beloved architectural icon
The Opera House is perhaps Sydney’s most beloved icon, and one of the most recognised buildings in the world. Built on Bennelong Point, jutting out into the harbour, the elegantly curving shapes of its gleaming spires are an indelible part of the Sydney skyline.
The story of the Opera House began in 1957 when Danish architect Jørn Utzon won a state-run design competition out of 233 entries worldwide. Construction began in 1959 and took a tumultuous 14 years to complete, 10 years later than planned and a staggering 14 times over budget. The Opera House’s radical design turned out to be a technical and logistical nightmare. Tensions flared between Utzon, the design team and the government, resulting in Utzon’s resignation in 1966. Today, the Sydney Opera House is widely acknowledged as one of the world’s most spectacular examples of late modern architecture.
The distinctive roof of the opera house has been variously described as representing billowing sails, seashells, upturned ship’s hulls or even (apparently) a family of swans or segments of a fruit. Utzon never revealed the inspiration behind his controversial creation and their significance is still pondered to this day. The roof’s distinctive, pearlescent appearance is created by 1,056,000 glazed white granite tiles.
The Sydney Opera House is one of the world’s busiest performing arts venues. Among its 1,000 rooms are the spectacular concert hall, five performance theatres and an outdoor forecourt stage, five rehearsal studios, four restaurants and six bars. The genius of the design is immediately apparent as you wander through its intricate corridors and marvel at the harbour through its slanted windows.
HelloSydney Tip: Numerous guided tours and “experience packages” are available through the Tour Desk in the Box Office foyer, or through the online booking system. The Essential Tour runs every half an hour from 9am to 5pm, taking you behind the scenes of the Opera House's world class performance venues and relating the dramatic story of its construction through fascinating archival videos.
Posted by Fiona Davies
