Sydney’s Jewel on the Harbor

Described as the “jewel of Bennelong Point,” the Sydney Opera House is surrounded on three sides by the blue waters of Sydney Harbour. In bright sunlight it certainly looks like a jewel. At night the Gothic shells sparkle at their best under the lights of the opera house.

The foreword to the book A Vision Takes Form gives a description of the visual impact of the opera house: “Sydney Opera House has become one of those buildings that take on a decisive new character with each small shift of perspective or change in light. . . . An early morning mist or the gleams of a late sunset can help to burnish the shells like helmets from a saga of legendary giants.”

The design of the opera house was conceived by Danish architect Jørn Utzon and was finally selected from among more than 200 international entries in a design competition. But aspects of his design were deemed impractical and required substantial alterations.

The London Architects’ Journal described it as “the epitome of romantic sculpture on the grand scale.” Yet, converting this romantic dream into a reality presented great engineering difficulties. Two of the engineers, Sir Ove Arup and Jack Zunz, said: “[The] Sydney Opera House is . . . an adventure in building. . . . Because the circumstances under which it is being built are so unusual, and because its problems are so difficult, it has created unique opportunities . . . for the development of new techniques. Many of these have since been used in more orthodox bridge and building works.”

The original estimated cost of the opera house was 7 million Australian dollars, but by its completion in 1973, the cost had skyrocketed to an astronomical 102 million dollars!

A Look Inside the Opera House

As we enter the foyer, we notice that sunlight filters through the two layers of glass in the cone-shaped mouths of the shells. Enclosing the building is an amazing total of 67,000 square feet [6225 sq m] of special glass made in France. Next we enter the concert hall. As we stand at the back looking across the 2,690 seats toward the stage, we are impressed to see the largest mechanical tracker organ in the world, with its 10,500 pipes.a The ceiling rises to a height of 82 feet [25 m], resulting in a cubic capacity of 880,000 cubic feet [26,400 cu m]. This “gives a reverberation time of approximately two seconds allowing symphonic music to be heard with a full, rich and mellow tone,” says an official guide.

Equally impressive are the other three auditoriums, which were designed for opera, symphony concerts, ballet, films, solo recitals, drama, chamber music, exhibitions, and conventions. In total there are 1,000 rooms in the opera house building, including restaurants, dressing rooms, and other amenities.

[Picture on page 16, 17]

Sydney Opera House and harbor bridge

[Credit Line]

By courtesy of Sydney Opera House Trust (photograph by Tracy Schramm)

[Picture on page 17]

Interior of the Opera House, with its 10,500-pipe organ

[Credit Line]

By courtesy of Australian Archives, Canberra, A.C.T.