Sydney is the oldest and most beautiful city in Australia. Today it is impossible to imagine it without the Sydney Opera House. Since the opening of this majestic Opera, this building has been recognized as the symbol of this extraordinary city.
Sydney Opera House
The Sydney Opera House is located in beautiful place, on Bennelong Point, near the Harbor Bridge. Before the construction of the opera, a fort was located in this area, and after it a transport depot.
Construction of the opera house started in 1959 and lasted for 4 years. The Sydney Theater was first presented by Elizabeth II, Queen of England on October 20, 1973.
The opera was designed by the famous architect Jorn Utzon. The opera house building is located on an area of 2.2 hectares, its length is 185 m, and its width is 120.
The construction of the opera house includes about a dozen halls different sizes for all kinds of fees. The concert hall has 2.5 thousand seats, the opera hall has 1.5 thousand seats, and the drama theater has over 500 seats, and there are also a couple of small halls, one of the halls is located in the open-air courtyard.
In addition to these halls, the Sydney Opera House houses 2 stages and many entertainment venues. In front of the theater on the square there are continuously free performances and concerts. Here you can listen to national music.
At the same time, the theater can host up to 4 different performances on different stages.
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On the territory of the opera there are 6 bars and 4 restaurants, here visitors after the end of the performance and during intermission can eat and drink refreshing cocktails. There are also numerous souvenir shops for tourists.
In Sydney Opera theatre is one of the extraordinary buildings modern architecture. The property of the Sydney Opera House is the curtain, listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest on the planet. And another asset of the opera house is the largest organ on the planet, numbering 10,500 pipes, which is also listed in the Guinness Book of Records.
Experts have calculated that since the opening of the opera, almost 40 million people have visited it. tourists from various countries, which exceeds the number of residents of all of Australia.
Entry into the building is free, but visiting the opera itself is very difficult. You need to buy a ticket to the opera a couple of months in advance. price policy quite high.
Excursions are held here for visitors - every day from 9 to 17 hours. In addition, every morning at 7 am there is a performance with breakfast.
In 2007, the World Heritage Site UNESCO included the Sydney Theater in its famous register.
»History of construction
223 architects competed for the right to design the Sydney Opera House. In January 1957, the design of the Danish architect Jorn Utzon was announced as the winner of the competition, and two years later the first stone was laid on Bennelong Point in Sydney Harbour. According to preliminary calculations, the construction of the theater should have taken 3-4 years and cost $7 million. Unfortunately, soon after the work began, many difficulties arose, which forced the government to deviate from Utzon’s original plans. And in 1966, Utzon left Sydney after a particularly major quarrel with city authorities.
A team of young Australian architects took responsibility for completing the construction. The New South Wales government played a lottery to raise money to continue the work. And on October 20, 1973, the new Sydney Opera House was inaugurated. Instead of the planned 4 years, the theater was built in 14, and it cost 102 million dollars.
Video: Laser show at the Sydney Opera House
Architectural features
The Sydney Opera House building is 183 m long and 118 m wide, covering an area of over 21,500 sq. m. m. It stands on 580 concrete piles driven to a depth of 25 m into the clayey bottom of the harbor, and its grandiose dome rises 67 m in height. To cover the entire surface of the dome, more than a million glazed, pearl-like, snow-white tiles were used.
The building houses 5 theaters: the Great Concert Hall with 2,700 seats; its own theater with 1,500 seats and smaller drama theatres, playrooms and theater studio for 350 and 500 seats each. The complex has more than a thousand additional office spaces, including rehearsal rooms, 4 restaurants and 6 bars.
Data
- Location: The Sydney Opera House is located on Bennelong Head on Sydney Harbour, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Its architect is Jorn Utzon.
- Dates: The first stone was laid on March 2, 1959. The first performance took place on September 28, 1973, followed by the official opening of the theater on October 20, 1973. The entire construction took 14 years and cost $102 million.
- Dimensions: The Sydney Opera House building is 183 m long and 118 m wide, covering an area of over 21,500 sq. m. m.
- Theaters and number of seats: the building houses 5 separate theaters with total number more than 5,500 places.
- Dome: The unique dome of the Sydney Opera House is covered with more than a million ceramic tiles. The complex is supplied with electricity using 645 km of cable.
Key facts:
- DATE 1957-1973
- STYLE Expressionist modern
- MATERIALS Granite, concrete and glass
- ARCHITECT Jorn Utson
- The architect has never been to a completed theater
Yacht sails, bird wings, seashells - all this may come to mind when looking at the Sydney Opera House. It became a symbol of the city.
Glistening white sails rise into the sky, and the massive granite base appears to be anchored to a straight strip of land, washed on three sides by the waters of Sydney Harbour.
The amazing opera house came to the city after it was decided in the early 1950s that the city needed a proper performing arts center. In 1957, Danish architect Jorn Utson (born 1918) won international competition projects.
But the decision was controversial, because the construction involved unprecedented technical complexity - the engineers who worked on the project called it “a structure that can hardly be built.”
Controversy and crisis
Utson's project was unique. he broke a lot of rules. Therefore, new technologies were required for construction; they had yet to be developed. Construction began in 1959 and, unsurprisingly, came controversy and complications.
When the new government tried to use rising costs and constant overlays in political games, Utson was forced to leave Australia in early 1966. For months, people thought the empty shells on the concrete podium would remain a giant, unfinished sculpture.
But in 1973, construction was finally completed; the interiors did not require much time. The opera house opened that same year, and public support was strong, although Utson was not at the opening.
The building is made so that it can be viewed from any angle, even from above. In it, as in sculpture, you always see something elusive and new.
Three groups of interconnected shells hang over a massive base of granite slabs, where service spaces are located - rehearsal and dressing rooms, recording studios, workshops and administrative offices. There is also a drama theater and a small stage for performances.
The two main shells contain two main halls - a large concert hall, over which hangs a ceiling of circular segments, and an opera house hall, where opera and ballet are shown.
The third group of shells contains a restaurant. The height of the shells is up to 60 meters, they are supported by ribbed concrete beams, similar to fans, and the thickness of their concrete walls is 5 centimeters.
The sinks are covered with matte and glossy ceramic tiles. On the other hand, all the shells are covered with glass walls that look like glass waterfalls - from there you can enjoy stunning views of the entire area. From all the theater halls you can go to the common hall below. Both main concert halls can also be accessed from the outside via wide staircases.
The competition jury was right in choosing the project for the Sydney Opera House, although the acoustics there are complex, and the simple furnishings inside erase the impressions of the masterpiece. Today, the Sydney Opera House is called one of the greatest buildings of the 20th century, the eighth wonder of the world, and it is almost impossible to imagine Sydney without it.
JORN UTSON
Jorn Utson was born in the capital of Denmark, Copenhagen, in 1918. He studied as an architect in Copenhagen from 1937 to 1942, and then went to study in Sweden and the USA, and work with.
Utson developed architectural style, known as additive architecture. Utson created a lot at home, studied theory, but his name is forever associated with the Sydney Opera House (although difficulties with this project damaged his career and almost ruined the life of the architect).
He also built the National Assembly of Kuwait and became famous throughout the world as the creator of impressive modern buildings in which modernism is complemented by natural forms. Utson received many awards for his work.
The jury appreciated Utzon's initial drawings, but for practical reasons he replaced the original elliptical shell-shaped design with a design with uniform spherical fragments reminiscent of an orange peel. In view of numerous problems Utzon left the project, and work on the glazing and interior was completed by architect Peter Hall. But Utson gained worldwide fame and was awarded the Pritzker Prize in 2003. In 2007, the Sydney Opera House was included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
The tallest concrete panel sink is equivalent in height to a 22-story building. The exterior of the shell is covered in a chevron pattern of more than a million cream tiles interspersed with pink granite panels. The interior of the building is clad in Australian birch plywood.
Everyone knows that the Sydney Opera House is a true architectural symbol of the city, raising the architect Jorn Utzon (1918-2008) to the pinnacle of fame outside his native Denmark. After the end of World War II, Utson traveled through Europe, the USA and Mexico, became acquainted with the works of Alvar Aalto and Frank Lloyd Wright, and examined the ancient Mayan pyramids. In 1957, he won the design competition for the Sydney Opera House, after which he moved to Australia. Construction work began in 1959, but he soon encountered problems with the roof's design and the new government's attempts to persuade him to use certain suppliers. building materials. In 1966, he left the project and returned to his homeland. He was not invited to Grand opening in 1973, however, despite this, he was offered to redesign the reception hall, called the Utson Hall (2004). Later he participated in the restoration of other fragments of the structure.
Utson's departure caused a lot of rumors and hostile reviews, and Hall's appearance to complete the Project was met with hostility. Hall is the author of other administrative buildings, such as Goldstine College at the University of New South Wales (1964).
In 1960, during the construction of the Sydney Opera House, American singer and actor Paul Robeson performed the song Ol Man River at the very top of the scaffolding during a lunch break for construction workers.
The Sydney Opera House is one of the most famous buildings of the 20th century and certainly the most popular architectural structure Australia in style. It is located on Sydney Harbour, close to the huge Harbor Bridge. The unusual silhouette of the Sydney Opera House resembles a row of sails soaring above the surface of the sea. Nowadays, smooth lines in architecture are quite common, but it was the Sydney Theater that became one of the first buildings on the planet with such a radical design. His distinguishing feature- a recognizable form that includes a number of identical “shells” or “shells”.
The history of the theater's creation is full of drama. It all started in 1955, when the state government of which Sydney is the capital declared an international architectural competition. From the very beginning, the construction was entrusted big hopes– it was planned that the implementation of an ambitious project to create a new magnificent theater would serve as an impetus for the development of culture on the Australian continent. The competition attracted the attention of many famous architects world: the organizers received 233 applications from 28 countries. As a result, the government chose one of the most striking and unusual projects, the author of which was the Danish architect Jorn Utzon. An interesting designer and thinker in search of new expressive means, Utzon designed a building that seemed to “come from the world of fantasy,” as the architect himself said.
In 1957, Utzon arrived in Sydney, and two years later construction of the theater began. There were many unforeseen difficulties associated with the start of work. It turned out that Utzon's project was not sufficiently developed, the design as a whole turned out to be unstable, and the engineers could not find an acceptable solution to implement the bold idea.
Another failure is an error in the construction of the foundation. As a result, it was decided to destroy the original version and start all over again. Meanwhile, the architect attached paramount importance to the foundation: in his design there were no walls as such, the roof vaults rested directly on the plane of the foundation.
Initially, Utzon believed that his idea could be realized quite simply: make sinks from reinforcing mesh, and then cover them with tiles on top. But calculations showed that this method would not be suitable for a giant roof. The engineers tried different shapes- parabolic, ellipsoidal, but all to no avail. Time passed, money melted, customer dissatisfaction grew. Utzon, in despair, drew tens again and again various options. Finally, one fine day, it dawned on him: his gaze accidentally stopped at orange peels in the form of the usual triangular segments. This was the very form that the designers had been looking for for so long! Roof vaults, which are parts of a sphere of constant curvature, have the necessary strength and stability.
After Utzon found a solution to the problem with the roof vaults, construction resumed, but the financial costs turned out to be more significant than originally planned. According to preliminary estimates, the construction of the building required 4 years. But it took 14 long years to build. The construction budget was exceeded by more than 14 times. Customers' dissatisfaction grew so much that at a certain point they removed Utzon from work. The brilliant architect left for Denmark, never to return to Sydney. He never saw his creation, despite the fact that over time everything fell into place, and his talent and contribution to the construction of the theater were recognized not only in Australia, but throughout the world. Interior Design Sydney Theater made by other architects, so between the external appearance of the building and its interior decoration you can feel the difference.
As a result, the roof segments, seemingly crashing into each other, were made of precast and monolithic reinforced concrete. Surface of concrete orange peels» lined a huge amount tiles made in Sweden. The tiles are coated with a matte glaze, allowing the roof of the Sydney Theater to be used today as a reflective screen for video art and the projection of vibrant images. The roof flaps of the Sydney Opera House were built using special cranes ordered from France - the theater was one of the first buildings in Australia to be erected using cranes. And the highest “shell” of the roof corresponds to the height of a 22-story building.
Construction of the Sydney Opera House was officially completed in 1973. The theater was opened by Queen Elizabeth II, the grand opening was accompanied by fireworks and a performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. The first performance performed in the new theater was S. Prokofiev’s opera “War and Peace”.
Today the Sydney Opera House is the largest Cultural Center Australia. It hosts more than 3 thousand events annually, and has an annual audience of 2 million viewers. The theater’s program includes an opera called “The Eighth Miracle,” which tells the story of the complex history of the building’s construction.
Sydney Opera House (Sydney, Australia) - repertoire, ticket prices, address, phone numbers, official website.
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Cruise ship passengers approaching the Sydney Harbor Bridge see huge sails rising to the sky on the left side. Or are these the doors of a giant shell? Or maybe the skeleton of a beached prehistoric whale? Neither one nor the other, nor the third - in front of them is the building of the Opera House, the symbol of the largest city in Australia. The sun's reflections reflected from the water wander across the roof, coloring it different colors, hundreds of tourists on the embankment admire the views of the bay, ships and yachts passing nearby.
A little history
In 1955, the New South Wales state government announced an international competition for best project opera house for its capital. Among the 233 constructivist concrete boxes, the complex system of curved surfaces drawn by the Dane Jorn Watson stood out. The new architectural style would later be called structuralism or structural expressionism. The author received the Pritzker Prize for his project, an analogue of the Nobel Prize for architects, and the building was included in the List world heritage UNESCO during the author's lifetime.
Watson did not see his creation complete. The reason, as always, is money. The preliminary estimate turned out to be 15 times underestimated; the architect was not allowed to complete the construction and was not even paid the full fee. He only managed to erect an extraordinary roof, while other people were engaged in finishing the façade and interior. Later, on the eve of the Olympics, the Australians offered Watson any money to return and finish what he started. But he proudly refused.
Architecture and interior of the theater
The huge building is surrounded by water on three sides and stands on deeply driven stilts. 2 million matte ceramic tiles cover the concrete roof as high as a 22-story building. The changing angle of the sun's rays paints it in different colors. Absolutely fantastic evening lighting turns the building into a radiant gem. The roof surface often serves as a screen for demonstrating video art and color and musical compositions.
One of the two largest "shells" hides Concert hall for 2679 spectators with a magnificent organ of 10 thousand pipes. Under the other is the Opera Hall with 1,547 seats. Its stage is decorated with a tapestry curtain woven in Aubuisson, it is called the “Curtain of the Sun”.
The sound under the magnificent roof was monstrously distorted. The acousticians had to build insulating ceilings over the halls and shape the interior taking these features into account.
The third hall with a capacity of 544 people is reserved Drama theater. His stage is hidden behind the “Curtain of the Moon”, also from French masters. The 4th is intended for lectures and film screenings. In the 5th, avant-garde theater troupes perform experimental performances. The Bennelong restaurant is located in the smallest shell a little to the side.
Today the Opera House is the main cultural center not only of Sydney, but of all of Australia. On its stages there are performances every day, orchestras perform, and art exhibitions are held in the lobby.
Practical information
Address: Sydney NSW 2000, Bennelong Point. Website (in English).
How to get there: by train, bus or ferry to transfer hub Circular Quay, then walk along the embankment for 10 minutes (800 m), of. website of the carrier Sidney Trains (in English)