It is almost impossible to write of the Arts in Australia without mentioning the building
that first put the country firmly on the world cultural map - the Sydney Opera House.
Completed in 1973 after 14 years of much heated discussion and at a cost of almost £60
million, it is not only the most well-known Australian building in the world but perhaps
the most famous design of any modern building anywhere.
Its distinctive and highly original shape has been likened to everything from the sails of
a sailing ship to broken eggshells, but few would argue with the claim that the Opera
House is a major contribution to world architecture. Set amidst the graceful splendour
of Sydney Harbour, presiding like a queen over the bustle and brashness of a modern city
striving to forge a financial reputation in a tough commercial world, it is a reminder to
all Australians of their deep and abiding love of all things cultural.
The Opera House was designed not by an Australian but by a celebrated Danish architect,
Jorn Utzon, whose design won an international competition in the late 1950s. However,
it was not, in fact, completed to his original specifications. Plans for much of the intended
interior design of the building have only recently been discovered. Sadly, the State
Government of the day interfered with Utzon's plans because of concerns about the
escalating cost, though this was hardly surprising - the building was originally expected
to cost only £5.5 million. Utzon left the country before completing the project and in a fit
of anger vowed never to return. The project was eventually paid for by a State-run lottery.
The size of the interior of the building was scaled down appreciably by a team of architects
whose job it was to finish construction within a restricted budget. Rehearsal rooms and
other facilities for the various theatres within the complex were either made considerably
smaller or cut out altogether, and some artists have complained bitterly about them ever
since. But despite the controversy that surrounded its birth, the Opera House has risen
above the petty squabbling and is now rightfully hailed as a modern architectural
masterpiece. The Queen officially opened the building in 1975 and since then, within its
curved and twisted walls, audiences of all nationalities have been quick to acclaim the
many world-class performances of stars from the Australian opera, ballet and theatre.