Sydney Opera House Tour

aka: a little more Opera House info than you ever thought you'd know or maybe wanted to know. :)

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Renowned architect, Frank Lloyd Wright, had this to say about the Sydney Opera House, " This circus tent is not architecture."

With all due respect to Mr. Wright, I disagree. And apparently, so do the folks at the UNESCO World Heritage List which, on 28 June 2007, added the Sydney Opera House to its list of universally treasured structures along with the Pyramids, the Taj Mahal, and the Great Wall of China. It is the youngest cultural site ever to be added to the list and the only one with the architect alive at the time of the award. The UNESCO report stated, "Sydney Opera House stands by itself as one of the indisputable masterpieces of human creativity, not only in the twentieth century but in the history of humankind."

Danish architect, Jorn Utzon, is the visionary architect whose design was selected for Sydney's Opera House. In an international design competition, with 222 entrants, Utzon's design was one of the last entries received. Inspired by sails on the water and the wings of a swan, Utzon decided that shells would cover the halls. Mayan and Zapotec ruins of Mexico provided inspiration for the base upon which the shells would sit.

Utzon's design was both celebrated and derided as the above quote from Frank Lloyd Wright illustrates. Shell roof technology had advanced over previous decades, but Utzon's large shells were not described geometrically, they were freeform, in his design submission. No one was sure they could be built the way he envisaged them. But because the government in Sydney was concerned that funding and public opinion would turn against them if they delayed the start of the project, they set a start date and work commenced.

The judges decision, announcing Utzon as the design competition winner, was read on 29 January 1957. Construction officially began in March 1959. Initially, the Opera House was scheduled to be opened on Australia Day, 26 January 1963, but delays in structural issues and construction drawings, weather, changes to original contract documents, and Utzon's resignation from the project in 1966 all delayed completion. It wasn't until 20 October 1973, almost 17 years after Utzon's design was selected, that Queen Elizabeth II officially opened Sydney's Opera House.

In addition to an Opera Theatre, there is a Concert Hall, a Drama Theatre, a Playhouse, 5 rehearsal studios, 60 dressing rooms, 5 restaurants, 6 theatre bars, and many other multi purpose meeting rooms and performance spaces - over 800 rooms total. 1.1 million people attend performances there every year. And on any given night, there are multiple performances and events going on at the same time.

Final cost of the Opera House was $102 million, and was paid off in 1975 almost entirely from Opera House Lottery proceeds.

It is a stunning building, both inside and out.

Architect, Frank Gehry had this to say about Jorn Utzon and the Sydney Opera House, "The groundbreaking Danish architect had constructed something well ahead of its time, far ahead of available technology and he persevered through extraordinary malicious publicity and negative criticism to build a building that changed the image of an entire country. It is the first time in our lifetime that an epic piece of architecture gained such universal presence."

The Opera House is truly an iconic Sydney landmark!

(BTW, in addition to my tour, many of the facts located here are from a book I bought at the Opera House - Sydney Opera House: Idea to Icon)

Here are some pictures from my tour. As you can see, it was rather overcast, which was a shame because I'm sure these photos would be so much prettier with a blue sky behind them. But the building is still pretty spectacular.

We couldn't actually take any photos inside the performance spaces, but I found this one on someone else's blog (how he got it, I don't know). This is a picture of the Concert Hall, my favorite.