The white shells of the Sydney Opera House are the first thing we imagine when we hear the word “Sydney”. Thanks to its bizarre outlines, the main symbol of Sydney, inscribed on the World Heritage List, stands out among all the attractions of Australia. Located just off Harbor Bridge, in Bennelong Point Harbor, Sydney Opera House covers an area of 2.2 hectares and attracts more than 2 million visitors a year from around the world.
The design of the Sydney Opera House, an allusion to white shells by the water, belongs to architect Jorn Utzon. The international competition, in which 233 various projects participated, took place in 1957, and it was this project of the young Danish architect that won. The construction of the Opera was started in 1959.
The Opera House houses two amphitheaters, bars, a foyer, and above them are white, tiled, shells towering on the ocean. The complexity of the geometric shapes of the repeating shells caused a lot of difficulties in the implementation of the project. One of the main problems was also solved by Utzon himself: he proposed to cut all the shells from one spherical surface. They say that the decision came to the architect when he looked at his four-year-old child, peeling oranges.
As a result, in order to create a plausible construction of the Sydney Opera House, it was decided to assemble all parts of the shells in place and fasten them with tension ropes. Utzon dreamed that the play of light and shadow would make the surface of the building “alive”, and his dreams would come true.
The surface of the shells shimmers in the sun thanks to a successful combination of shiny tiles in the center and matte edges. Unfortunately, the author of the project had to leave construction in 1966 due to disagreements with the government, and the building was completed by local architects. Utzon died in 2011, having never visited Australia anymore and did not see firsthand the wonderful realization of his plan.
Despite all the difficulties and obstacles, on October 20, 1973 the Sydney Opera House was opened by the Queen of Great Britain Elizabeth II, who compared the construction of the Opera with the construction of the Egyptian pyramids. And not for nothing, since the implementation of the project in Sydney often ran into outrage, opposition and attacks. Contrary to all the turmoil, the Sydney Opera House was completed and became one of the symbols of Australia, a white castle in the air rising on the ocean shore of the Green Continent.
