About
The Sydney Opera House, designed by Danish architect Jørn Utzon and opened in 1973, is one of the 20th century's most distinctive buildings. Its sculptural white shell roofs — resembling sails or shells — required revolutionary engineering that pushed the boundaries of what was architecturally possible. The building sits on Bennelong Point in Sydney Harbour with the Harbour Bridge as backdrop.
Construction was plagued by cost overruns and political controversy — the final cost was $102 million (14x the original estimate) and Utzon resigned in 1966, never returning to see the completed building. It was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007. Despite Utzon's disappointment, the building has become the global symbol of Australia.
# Top 10 Sydney Opera House facts
- 1Utzon resigned from the project in 1966 due to political interference and never saw the completed building
- 2The Opera House cost $102 million — 14 times the original budget — and took 14 years to build
- 3UNESCO added it to the World Heritage List in 2007, calling it 'one of the indisputable masterpieces of human creativity'
Fascinating Facts
- ◆Utzon resigned from the project in 1966 due to political interference and never saw the completed building
- ◆The Opera House cost $102 million — 14 times the original budget — and took 14 years to build
- ◆UNESCO added it to the World Heritage List in 2007, calling it 'one of the indisputable masterpieces of human creativity'
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