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Sydney Opera House

The Sydney Opera House is one of the world's most distinctive 20th century buildings, and one of the most famous performing arts venues in the world.

It is situated on Bennelong Point and is one of the best known icons of Australia.

Designed by Danish architect Jorn Utzon
Opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 20th October 1973
Cost $AU 102,000,000 to build
Conducts 3000 events each year
Provides guided tours to 200,000 people each yea
Has an annual audience of 2 million for its performances
Includes 1000 rooms
Is 183 metres (605 feet) long and 120 metres (388 feet) wide
Supported on 588 concrete piers sunk up to 25m below sea level
Covers 1.8 hectares (4.5 acres) of land
Has 2194 pre-cast concrete sections as its roof
Has roof sections weighing up to 15 tons
Has roof sections held together by 350 km of tensioned steel cable
Has 1.056 million tiles on its roof
Uses 6225 square metres of glass
Powered by 645 kilometres of electric cable

Its design represents a ship a full sail and was designed by Danish architect Jorn Utzon.

Utzon who also reminds us that the design was also based on sea shells so a mixture of both sails and shells which is appropriate for its location and Sydney Harbour.

The cost and budget blew-out and there were occasions when the NSW Government was tempted to call a halt to the project. In 1966 the situation; with arguments about cost and the interior design and the Government withholding progress payments, reached crisis point and Utzon resigned from the project. The building was eventually completed by others in 1973.

Planning for the Sydney Opera House began in the late 1940s when Eugene Goossens , the Director of the NSW State Conservatorium of Music , lobbied for a suitable venue for large theatrical productions. The normal venue for such productions, the Sydney Town Hall, was not considered large enough. By 1954, Goossens succeeded in gaining the support of NSW Premier Joseph Cahill , who called for designs for a dedicated opera house. It was also Goossens who insisted that Bennelong Point be the site for the Opera House. Cahill had wanted it to be on or near Wynyard Railway Station in the north of the CBD.

The competition was launched by Cahill on 13 September 1955 and received a total of 233 entries from 32 countries. The criteria specified a large hall seating 3000 and a small hall for 1200 people, each to be designed for different uses including full-scale operas, orchestral and choral concerts, mass meetings, lectures, ballet performances and other presentations. The basic design announced in 1957 was submitted by Jorn Utzon , a Danish architect. Utzon arrived in Sydney in 1957 to help supervise the project.

It was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site on June 28 , 2007.