Utzon’s idea was immediately rejected by the jury of renowned architects. At the time of the Australian contest, Utzon was a practically unknown architect, who presented his design along with the plans of a number of houses designed and built in Helsingør. After the Second World War, he managed to get to know a number of internationally-renowned architects, such as Le Corbusier and Frank Lloyd Wright. Originally, he wanted to be a sailor but soon changed his mind, preferring to take a degree in architecture. One of these was Jørn Utzon, a Danish architect considered by many to be an outsider. To this end, an international contest was announced in February 1956 to select the best design for the theatre’s construction, History relates that 200 architects from all over the world answered the call. In brief, it was decided right from the start to build something strong and distinct. In 1954, Joseph Cahill, who had just been elected premier of New South Wales, announced: “This State cannot go forward without adequate facilities for the expression of talent and the staging of the highest forms of artistic entertainment, which add grace and charm to life and help develop and shape a better, more enlightened community.” What was wanted, then, was a theatre that could become a source of pride and glory for the country and would remain so for centuries to come.
The history of the Sydney Opera House has been extremely interesting, right from the start.
It should be made clear that this construction does not stand right in the centre of the Australian city but on a small, isolated peninsula that encloses a long, narrow bay: the Opera House is therefore in a decidedly maritime context, north of the Royal Botanical Garden.īefore finding out about the history and features of the Sydney Opera House, it should be remembered that its importance was confirmed in 2007, the year when the building became a UNESCO World Heritage site. What makes the Sydney Opera House memorable is its exterior structure, enormous white shells that remind many people of large white sails, reinforced by the building’s setting. The Sydney Opera House is an utterly original structure that everyone recognises at first sight: the same can certainly not be said of many other twentieth-century constructions. Sydney’s symbolic building is, without a shadow of a doubt, the most famous in all of Australia.
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