Sydney Opera House
Subtitle: Jørn Utzon
By: Philip Drew.
Series: Architecture in detail; Architecture in detail (London, England)
Publisher: Phaidon Press
Published: 1995
Place of publication: London
Language: eng
Number of pages: 60
Subjects: Utzon, Jørn, 1918- -- Criticism and interpretation; Sydney Opera House; Architecture -- Australia -- Sydney (N.S.W.) -- 20th century; Sydney (N.S.W.) -- Buildings, structures, etc
Description: Jorn Utzon's Opera House has a heroic quality; indeed, Utzon referred to it himself as a kind of 'cathedral', analogous to a Gothic church in the way that light and movement play across its public spaces. Its complex shell-like roof structures echo Gothic arches in section, but the building breaks with all precedent in its three-dimensional form.

Finding a practical solution to the construction of these roofs occupied the architect and the engineer Ove Arup for many years, necessitating considerable experimentation with pre-cast concrete technology. Disputes with his client led to Utzon's withdrawal from the project, and the Opera House looked for a time as if it might be a white elephant. At last, after a 16-year gestation, it opened in 1973 having already become an Australian national icon.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 60).