Title: Sydney Opera House
First published: 1995
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.
Subjects: Buildings, structures, Sydney Opera House, Criticism and interpretation, Sydney (N.S.W.), Architecture, History, Theaters, Theater architecture, Modern Architecture
Places: Australia, Sydney (N.S.W.)
People: Jørn Utzon (1918-)
Time periods: 20th century
LC classification: NA6840.A79 S93 1995