Sydney Opera House
An architectural icon and one of the world’s most celebrated performing arts centres.
The Sydney Opera House sits on Bennelong Point, a headland that juts into Sydney Harbour close to the Harbour Bridge. It is one of the best-known buildings of the twentieth century. Its roof is made of a group of white, sail-like shells that can be seen from much of the harbour. Queen Elizabeth II formally opened it on 20 October 1973, and in 2007 it was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The Danish architect Jørn Utzon won the design competition, but he left the project in 1966 while it was still being built. Australian architect Peter Hall and the firm Hall, Todd & Littlemore then finished the building, including most of the interiors. The shells were a major engineering challenge. The solution was to base every shell on the same spherical geometry, so they could be built from precast concrete sections. Utzon won the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2003.
The building is a busy performing arts centre, not just a landmark. It has several venues, from the large Concert Hall and the Joan Sutherland Theatre to the Drama Theatre, Playhouse, Studio and Utzon Room. Together they host opera, classical and contemporary music, theatre, dance, comedy and talks all year. Resident companies such as Opera Australia, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Sydney Theatre Company perform there regularly.
Highlights
- UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2007
- The roof shells are covered in more than one million glossy white and matte cream tiles made in Sweden
- Every roof shell is based on the same sphere, so the shells could be built from precast concrete sections
- The Concert Hall is the largest venue, with about 2,679 seats
- Jørn Utzon, who designed it, won the 2003 Pritzker Architecture Prize
