The Sydney Opera House has its own unique futuristic architecture, thanks to which it has become famous throughout the world. Locals dubbed it not only one of the iconic landmarks of the city, but even business card Sydney. This love is shared by travelers who, during a close acquaintance with this temple of art, instantly become imbued with respect for it. One of the most recognizable buildings on the planet hosts the world's best artists and attracts more than 8 million visitors annually.

In March 1959, townspeople gathered at the harbor at Bennelong Point to watch a ceremony that marked the start of construction. Sydney Theater operas. Danish architect Jorn Utzon, who developed the project for the future building, brought a bronze tablet to Australia - on that day it was installed at the intersection of the axes of the two proposed concert halls, and from that moment work on the construction of the architectural masterpiece began. The memorial plaque can still be seen today on the steps of the theater. When coming up with the appearance of the building, Jorn created something completely unusual: according to his idea, the roof of the building was supposed to consist of several spheres, which gave the façade of the theater the image of a ship sailing under sails. This solution made it possible to create amazing acoustics within its walls.

Initially, it was planned to complete construction within four years, but due to many reasons, the implementation of the bold project was delayed for fourteen. A large number of complications led to growing dissatisfaction with Jorn Utzon, who was not satisfied with the changes made original version changes. The offended architect left his team without seeing the final result. The young specialist appointed to his place, Peter Hall, was initially stunned by the scale of the project, but still took on the difficult task.
In 1973, a significant event took place - the Sydney opera house opened its doors. The celebration turned out to be grandiose, especially thanks to the presence of Queen Elizabeth II, who officially announced the start of the new cultural mecca and praised the craftsmen for their amazing imagination and talent.

There are four main rooms in the theater, designated for various events. The largest is concert hall— enchanting concerts take place here symphonic music with the participation of one of the largest bodies in the world. Next in capacity comes the opera hall (also known as the ballet hall), which is inferior to the first by 1,000 seats, accommodating 1,500 people within its walls. The remaining two can accommodate 400-500 people, and they are intended for dramatic productions. Each one has the usual atmosphere for a theater: a red velvet curtain and seats of the same shade, an elegant crystal chandelier spilling soft light - a worthy decoration for an outstanding opera house.

It is important to note that the doors of this temple of art are also open to young people: the theater hosts musical performances by various rock/indie/techno bands, as well as performances by illusionists and Christmas themed events.

Sydney has always been famous not only for its rich flora and fauna, but also for its architectural buildings, most of which follow European trends. But one building stands out among them, which is completely different from all the others. The name of this building is Sydney Opera House.

Sydney Opera

The Sydney Opera House has attracted generations of tourists, being one of the city's most striking attractions. Literally everything about the opera house is interesting - from the jagged roof, location on the water to the ascetic interior decoration. Many tourists are perplexed how in such a chic appearance The building can accommodate such modest ceilings and stairs. After all, it seems like there should be red carpets and golden statues here! In a word, the Sydney Opera House conquers many hearts and minds, but where did its history begin?!

The appearance of Eugene Goossens

Upon arrival British composer The problem of lack of space for concerts has emerged, and this is despite the excellent hearing of Australians. Eugene Goossens was amazed at the lack of interest on the part of the authorities in the construction of such a building. After all, it was almost impossible to show your talents in the city hall - the acoustics and the small hall got in the way. In addition, Goossens encountered a clear admiration for the ideas of Western architects, and this, in his opinion, spoiled the appearance of the entire city. After all, no one noticed the beauty of the peninsula, everyone rushed deeper into where skyscrapers arose.

Goossens has always been distinguished by his desire for exquisite beauty and even luxury. He had already seen the image of a palace in which he could, without hesitation, arrange big concerts, theatrical performances, delighting the public with ballet and opera. After all, the main task is to educate, but how can such an important task be accomplished without a special room, one that could accommodate 4,000 spectators.

Captivated by the idea, Goossens and his friend, the architect Kurt Langer, set out to look for a location. It became Cape Bennelong Point. The place promised to be profitable because it was visited by a large number of people, constantly transferring from ferry to train. However, by that time the cape was decorated with Fort Macquarie, behind which there was a tram depot.

First of all, Goossens turned to Ashworth, a professor of architecture at the University of Sydney. As it turned out, he understood little of Goossens’s idea, but introduced him to the right person– John Cahill, who raised the entire Australian public. So construction opera in Sydney it was soon resolved.

Start of construction

The state agreed to the construction of the theater only on the condition that its financial assistance would not be required for anything. Therefore, in 1959 it was announced international competition. Cahill gradually lost his power, he had many ill-wishers, whose machinations managed to send Goossens home and slow down the construction of the Opera.

However, the competition has already attracted worldwide interest and hundreds of entries have been submitted again and again. In addition, Goossens had already selected a jury, which included professional architects, and outlined the plan and components of the Opera. In his opinion, the Sydney Opera House should include a small and large halls, as well as a hall for rehearsal and storing props. Visitors were sure to sample Sydney cuisine at the fine dining restaurant. This idea required a large area and caused concerns in the design. She should not have been faceless; on the contrary, she had to be the first to be noticed on the surface of the water.

Danish victory

The competitors competed with the challenge of building on a small plot of land, and only one entry attracted all the judges, who unanimously decided that it was the winner. The Dane Jörn Wotzon placed the Big and Small Theaters close to each other, which solved the problem of walls and did not require layering several rooms, as other architects proposed. The roofs were fan-shaped and fixed to the podium, and the scenery was stored in the platform, and the problem of the backstage disappeared.

The architect himself was not very famous; he lived modestly with his family near Elsinore. Growing up by the sea, Jorn deeply absorbed his love for it. Perhaps this is why many people still notice the similarity of the theater’s shape with a ship that has set off on a long voyage.

Jorn's architectural talent developed in the Danish Royal Academy, then in Sweden. While the cities began to become more and more similar to each other, Jorn's value system was just taking shape. Upon completion educational institutions Jorn began to introduce the world to his talent, offering to embody the most various projects. While still a student, he and his friend developed a project for a concert hall for Copenhagen, for which they were awarded a gold medal. Watson's works struck no longer with majestic beauty, but with flights of imagination. It had no right angles or lines. On the contrary, the Dane tried to bring something original, at least the fan-shaped roofs of the Sydney Opera House. His work was hard to miss.

Sydney Opera House - contrasts

The facade of the Opera building evokes different fantasies: some say that it is a galleon, others see in it nine nuns, a white whale or a semblance of frozen music. The Sydney Opera really invites us to unravel its mystery, it invites us to fantasize and whatever we say will be true, because there is no single answer.
The interior of the building, on the contrary, does not fit in with such a loud name of the Opera. There is very little space here, there is almost nowhere to turn around and, alas, it is impossible to stage a large opera. There is only a small hall where only chamber performances can be staged, but if you slightly change its layout, it can easily turn into a disco hall. Just one detail in the form of a huge shiny ball on the ceiling is enough.

The Sydney Opera House is a landmark and fans of this grandiose architectural project had to wait a full 14 years from the start of construction until its grand opening by Queen Elizabeth II of England on October 20, 1973.

The Sydney Opera House has withstood a lot of criticism: it had to be re-planned, adjustments made to the original sketches, but it still delights us with its view soaring above the water, as if inviting us to soar upward on its tightly stretched sails, soar upward, listening to classical and modern music, plunging into the foggy depths of art.

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 along the roof, painting it in 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 UNESCO World Heritage List 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 incidence 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 music compositions.

One of the two largest “shells” hides the Concert Hall for 2,679 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 dedicated to the 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 just Sydney, but 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 the Circular Quay interchange hub, then walk along the embankment for 10 minutes (800 m), office. website of the carrier Sidney Trains (in English)

Tourism

The Sydney Opera House

Geographical location

| latitude and longitude (decimal): -33.856808 , 151.215264

The landscape of the largest Australian city - Sydney - is uniquely recognizable among thousands of other cities in the world thanks to just two elements: the arched bridge Harbor Bridge and the extraordinary building of the multidisciplinary theater, better known as " Opera House» ( Opera House), one of the most famous buildings in world architecture.

The Sydney Opera House recently celebrated its 40th anniversary in a big way, but its history begins much earlier. Back in 1954 Sydney symphony orchestra and the New South Wales Conservatoire put forward the idea of ​​creating a Sydney Opera House. The state government has chosen a site for the future building and announced an open international competition for the best design for the opera house.

In Sydney Harbor on Bennelong Point there was once a fort, later there was a tram depot here. It was decided to erect a spectacular building on this site, which will become the face of the city.

By December 1956, 233 applications from 28 countries had already been received. According to legend, the jury had already significantly narrowed the circle of applicants, rejecting most of the projects, when the famous American architect of Finnish origin joined the ranks of judges Eero Saarinen. It was he who saw among the rejected options the “clear favorite” - the Dane’s project Jorn Utzon (Jørn Utzon), essentially insisting on his victory. On January 29, 1957, the winner was named - an expressive system of either shells or sails, drawn by Uthon.

In the 1950s There was a change in world architectural preferences: the boring conservative-industrial “international style” with characteristic reinforced concrete “boxes” was replaced by something completely different, expressed in spectacular clean lines of curvilinear forms of clearly natural, organic origin. New style will be called “structural expressionism” or “structuralism”. One of his supporters was the same jury member Ero Saarinen, who insisted on the victory of the project, now considered an “icon” of structuralism.

The architect decided to make the roofs of the Sydney Opera House from spherical segments of constant curvature. A little later, Jörn Utzon will tell you that the source of inspiration was the peel of an orange, peeled off in triangular segments. The only difference with the building is the scale. The orange for the Opera House would have a diameter of 150 m, and its crust would be concrete, covered with azulejo tiles. The building covers an area of ​​2.2 hectares. Its length is 185 m and its maximum width is 120 m.

During the implementation of the project, numerous difficulties arose, which led to delays, significant reworking of the original plan and large financial costs. Instead of the planned four years and seven million Australian dollars, the opera took fourteen years to build and cost $102 million (that is, it exceeded the initial budget by more than 14.5 (!) times).

The Sydney Opera House was opened on 20 October 1973 by the Queen Elizabeth II.

The perfectly level roofs of the Sydney Opera House are covered with more than a million tiles. In different lighting, the tiles create different colors, and the reflections of the sun reflected from the water play beautifully on them.

The two largest vaults form the ceiling of the Concert Hall ( Concert Hall) and Opera House ( Opera Theater). In other rooms, the ceilings form groups of smaller vaults. In the smallest "shell" off to the side of the main entrance and grand staircase is the Bennelong Restaurant.

The Opera House has always attracted increased attention from professionals. In 2003, architect Jorn Utzon was awarded the Pritzker Prize (the secret equivalent Nobel Prize in architecture).

The Sydney Opera House is Australia's most famous building, built after a lengthy construction process in 1974. Controversy about it architectural style are still going on, but the theater has long become a symbol and calling card of this distant city.

Some people think that opera in Sydney is a frozen musical composition, others - snow-white sails filled with wind, others are sure that from afar the building looks like a huge whale washed up on the seashore by a storm.

The most unique thing about the theater is its roof, made in the shape of sails or flower petals. It cannot be confused with any other building. The Sydney Opera House is located in famous list cultural heritage UNESCO.

Description

It is well known that the vast majority of other theaters in the world were built in strict style classicism. And the Sydney Opera House is true expressionism in architecture, a fresh look at classical music and opera singing.

It has an unusual roof and stands on stilts in the water it is surrounded by. The theater has a huge area - about 22,000 square meters. m, many large halls, studios, cafes, restaurants, boutiques, souvenir shops and other premises.

The largest hall in the theater is the concert hall, which can accommodate more than 2.6 thousand people. There is a giant organ in this hall; organ music concerts are often held.

The second largest hall is called the Opera House, its capacity is 1.5 thousand people, operas and ballets are staged here. The third hall is called drama theater, it is designed for 500 spectators, and is intended for theatrical productions.

Theater roof

The height of the roof of this building is almost 70 m, and the radius is 75 m. It is made in the form of many petals or sails nested inside each other. The total weight of the roof is more than 30,000 kg.

The surface of the segments that cover the roof of the Sydney Opera House is covered with smooth white tiles. Interestingly, during the day, depending on the lighting, its color changes from pure white to light beige.

Due to the fact that the roof surface is not smooth, serious acoustic problems arose inside it. Therefore, we had to additionally make a ceiling with sound reflection. The reflective function is performed by special gutters on the ceiling.

The first author of the theater

The idea to build an opera house in Sydney came to the mind of the English conductor Eugene Goossens, who arrived in Australia to record concerts on the radio. There was not a single building where the opera could be located.

At the request of Hessens, the Australian authorities decided to build a theater where one could listen not only to classical music, but also to modern musical works.

In Sydney, a headland was chosen on the seashore near the embankment. There was a tram park there at that time, it was moved to another location, and a professional competition was immediately announced for the best project for the future opera house.

In connection with the vigorous development of the construction of this theater, Goossens acquired enemies and envious people. Suddenly, customs found prohibited items in his luggage and he was forced to leave Australia.