Sydney Opera House tours

The Sydney Opera House is located on a prominent point on Sydney Harbour and is a stone’s throw (maybe two) from the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

In 1957 Danish architect, Jorn Utzon, was chosen as the opera house architect from a field of over 200 contestants.

His design sketches were bold and inspiring. It was clear that the proposed building was going to be exceptional.

As with many ambitious plans reality kicked in and numerous modifications of the design were necessary.

This design process was pain staking and it was not until 1963 that the design was finalized.

The greatest challenge concerned the shape of the opera house’s most distinctive feature, large curved vaulted shells.

The shape had to have both structural integrity and the ability to be economically built.

Many shapes were tried ranging from parabolas to circular ribs to ellipsoids.

Ultimately the shape of the opera house’s shells was based on the dissection of a top of a sphere into segments.

One of the many interesting features of the opera house is that the shell walls curve and blend into the roof, joining at a central point.

Jorn Utzon did not want a flat roof and his desire for the opera house to be seen from all sides was satisfied by constructing the shells on an elevated platform (podium).

Due to the massive size of the shells the design had to allow for in situ construction, resulting in the shells being built piece by piece from precast concrete.

The final design chosen for the opera house is in the author’s opinion a significant enhancement of the original drawings, providing for a more upright and striking building, whilst still retaining the look of the original sketches.

Postscript

Whilst taking the photos for this blog Sydney Nimble came across the Sydney Opera Company’s principal soprano, Julie Lea Goodwin, who will be performing in the upcoming production of La Boheme at the Sydney Opera House.

Julie’s hair, make-up and art deco dress/ gown/ jewellery were exquisite. Nice to meet an opera singer at the opera house!

geometric shapes create an outstanding sculptural design

early afternoon light highlights zig zag patterns

art deco charm

the podium’s elevation vastly improves the display

Julie Lea Goodwin