Architectural landmark Sydney Opera House. Sydney Opera House inside

Sydney Opera House: Architect's sketch.

Sydney, Australia, 1959 Sydney stands on green hills that surround a deep blue bay. Here the cries of seagulls are heard, and the waves crash against the rocks with a crash. In the middle of the last century, on one of the picturesque shores, the city authorities decided to build an opera house and chose
for this, the Bennelong spit, protruding into the depths of Sydney Bay.

The mayor of Sydney announced a competition, and building designs flew to Australia from all over the world. However, considering them, the members of the jury became more and more perplexed. Most of the architects have thoroughly thought out the internal arrangement of the theatre: how the rows of seats will be arranged in the halls, how the entrance area with ticket offices and bars, in which part of the building there will be warehouses for scenery and dressing rooms.
But the jury members were not interested in these details - they needed a project for a building that would harmoniously fit into the beautiful landscape of Sydney Harbor.

Only one architect was able to interest the jury. The attention of the judges was attracted by a simple pen and ink sketch. In amazement, they passed the drawing from hand to hand. It seemed to them that they saw sails hovering over the shore of the bay, or perhaps the wings of birds that had just landed on the ground.

Will the decorations fit inside? Will the artists be able to go from the dressing rooms to the stage? None of that mattered at the time. The jury was fascinated by the poetic image,
depicted in the sketch of the building.

The complexity of the construction of the structure faded into the background, and the author of the sketch, a young Dane Jorn Utzon, was recognized as the winner of the competition.

No one could have guessed that the construction Sydney Opera will drag on for 14 years, during which architects and engineers will have to solve many difficult tasks, and the authorities will have to spend huge amounts of money on the construction of the building.

Building Difficulties:

Several centuries ago, in order to build tall Gothic temples such as the cathedral, people invented new ways of building arches and vaults. The designers of the Sydney Opera House had an even greater challenge. How to turn the roof of a building into graceful sails drawn by Jorn Utzon?

Using computers, engineers calculated the curve of each vault, but each vault was different, and it was impossible to understand what forms needed to be made for pouring concrete. The problem was solved when the designers mentally cut the sphere into pieces - “wings” - and made a composition out of them. Then they came up with a way
how to create these shell vaults from concrete ribs, similar to the ribs of Gothic cathedrals.

No one has ever built buildings like the Sydney Opera House. Every challenge the engineers faced was a new challenge. How to put the ribs in place? How to fasten them together? Designing went on for many months, and gradually the building took on a finished look in the drawings and layouts. In the Middle Ages, the construction of the cathedral sometimes took more than a hundred years. It seemed to the inhabitants of Sydney that their opera house would be built as much.

Meanwhile, the cost of the project continued to rise, and its participants soon began to blame each other for the delay in construction. After loud scandal Yorn
Utzon left the project and returned to Denmark. He never came to the opening of the theater to see how his idea came to life.

In October 1973, many boats gathered in Sydney Harbor, excited spectators stood on the shore and on the tops of the hills. Everyone looked in amazement at the Bennelong Spit, where the fantastic vaults of the roof of the new opera house shone in the sunlight. They looked exactly the same as in Utzon's drawing - like the wings of birds that had just landed on the ground.

And then the inhabitants of the city finally understood why the architect created the building in such a way. The theater was surrounded by the city on all sides, so it could not have the main
facade and back wall. Like an amazing sculpture, it had to be beautiful from every angle.

Utzon never visited Sydney again. Years later, the people of the city invited him, but he could not come because serious illness. And yet the architect had one consolation: the opera house, created according to his sketch, became an outstanding building, known throughout the world.

Explanation of designations:

1. Opera theater hall for 1507 seats.
2. glass walls
3. The upper part of each "Wing" is covered with blinds.
4. revolving stage
5. Grids - devices above the stage that allow you to change the scenery.
6. Concert hall for 2679 seats.
7. Scene
8. Make-up rooms
9. Organ
10. Rehearsal room and recording studio
11. The "wings" are made of concrete ribs joined together and lined with ceramic tiles.
12. The shape of each ceramic tile follows the curvature of the roof.
13. Restaurant
14. Entrance for spectators through the terrace
15. Car parking under the terrace
16. On the open terrace, visitors can walk around the entire building, admiring the beautiful
    view of Sydney harbour.
17. Restaurant kitchen
18. Warehouses
19. The shells of the "wings" stand on a powerful concrete base lined with granite.
20. Conductors' offices
21. Administrative premises
22. rehearsal room
23. Drama theater hall
24. Scene
25. Outdoor deck overlooking Sydney Bay
26. Foyer of the concert hall
27. Administrative premises
28. rehearsal room
29. Make-up rooms
30. Restaurant
31. Summer cafe
32. Gallery overlooking Sydney Harbour.
33. Orchestra pit

– Sydney Opera House, and even if you haven’t heard, you will certainly easily recognize the photo of this unusual sail-like structure.

Our story will take you closer to this unique building, you will find out why it has gained such popularity among tourists, and you can decide whether it deserves your attention or not.

History of the Opera House in Sydney

The history of the construction of the world-famous landmark began in the distant 1954 the year the British conductor sir J. Goossens, having arrived in work, he discovered that there was not only an opera house, but also no other sufficiently spacious room where people could listen to music.
He got excited about the idea of ​​building and soon found a suitable place - Cape Bennelong Point, where at that time the tram depot was located.
J. Goossens did a lot of work, and so, on May 17, 1955, the Australian government announced a competition to develop a project for a new opera house. Architects from all over the world submitted their projects, but in the end the Dane won J. Watson.
Large-scale construction began, which dragged on for 14 years and instead of the originally calculated 7 million Australian dollars, it required 102 million.
In 1973, the official opening of the Sydney Opera House took place, soon after which the building became the main architectural symbol not only, but of Australia as a whole.

Top attractions - what to see at the Sydney Opera House?

Undoubtedly, the attention of people from all over the world to the Sydney Opera House is the most attracted by its easily recognizable roof, which resembles sails to some, shells to some, and others say that it is a symbol of frozen music.

Did you know? Many people think that the roof has a white surface, but in fact, some of its tiles are white, others are cream, due to which, depending on the sunlight, it can “change” color.

But besides the roof, there are many other things that make the structure really outstanding. It is surrounded by water on three sides and stands on huge concrete piles. The area of ​​the theater reaches incredible figures - 22 thousand square meters. m.!

The theater contains 4 large halls at once:

• Concert hall, which can simultaneously receive 2679 visitors;
• Opera theatre, designed for 1507 spectators, they play here not only opera, but also ballet;
• Drama Theater, capable of accommodating 544 people;
• Maly Drama Theater– the most comfortable hall for 398 spectators.

In addition to the main halls, the theater has many other rooms - rehearsal rooms, dressing rooms, corridors, bars and restaurants.

Entertainment

Undoubtedly, the main attraction of the Opera House in Sydney is watching his outstanding plays, performances, operas and ballets. World-famous theater and ballet troupes, as well as orchestras, singers and other artists come here with their performances.

Did you know? At the same time, 4 different performances can take place in the theater!

You can find a list of upcoming events at official website of the Sydney Opera House.
If you're not an avid art lover, or have a little time to spare, but want to get to know the world-famous building, this is easy to do.

By visiting one of them, you can not only learn more interesting facts about famous building, but also to go “behind the scenes” of theatrical life, get acquainted with the actors of the troupes and even try out theatrical food. By the way, about food.
There are several good bars and restaurants on the territory of the Sydney Opera House. The most popular of them:

• Opera Bar- a bar and a restaurant, which is at the same time one of the "favorites" among the Sydney people;
• Bennelong- one of the best restaurants in Australia, whose chef is P. Gilmour, who prepares original dishes from Australian ingredients;
• Portside Sydney- the most suitable for a light snack, a cup of coffee or a dessert, a friendly family restaurant.

Also in the theater building you will find many souvenir shops, offering tourists a very wide selection of pleasant and memorable little things.

Where is the Sydney Opera House located?

The famous building is located in the picturesque Sydney harbor at Bennelong Point.
You can easily get here from anywhere in the Australian capital, as there is an intersection of sea and land transport routes nearby.
GPS coordinates: 33.856873° S, 151.21497° E.

Opening hours of the Sydney Opera House

• The theater is open to visitors daily from 9 am (Sunday from 10:00) until late in the evening.

• Prices for visiting the theater depend on the purpose of such a visit - either it will be an excursion, or you want to see this or that performance, or you just want to relax and have a delicious meal in one of the theater restaurants - in each case, the price can vary significantly.
• If you have any questions, you can contact the "Info-service" of the theater from Monday to Friday at tel. +61 2 9250 7111 or email address [email protected].
  The official website of the Sydney Opera House is www.sydneyoperahouse.com.

Sydney Opera House - interesting facts

• Author of the Sydney theater project Yu. Goossens, despite the amount of work he did, was "expelled" from Australia, since they allegedly found forbidden items of the “black mass” in him.
• The initial A$7 million for the theater was raised thanks to charity lottery.
• The famous sail-shaped roof significantly worsened the acoustics of the theater premises, and therefore it was necessary to make additional sound reflective ceilings. The roof, by the way, was also too heavy, and the builders were forced to redo the entire foundation of the theater again.
• In connection with the protracted construction, the architect of the Sydney Opera House, J. Watson, had difficulties with the Australian government, and he was forced to leave Australia. The theater was completed by another architect.
• She herself came to open the opera house in Sydney Queen Elizabeth II of Britain.
• The Sydney Theater has the longest theater curtains in the world, and its large concert hall is the most big organ on the planet.
• The Sydney Opera House is the first building in the world to be listed as a World Heritage UNESCO during the lifetime of its architect.
• The building of the opera house is still not completed to the end. To prepare for the 2000 Olympics, the Australian government invited J. Watson to complete the building, but he refused. The illustrious architect never returned to Australia after the forced cessation of construction.
• J. Watson in 2003 received the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for the project of the world famous theater.
• Sydney Opera House was a contender for the title of one of the 7 wonders of the world.
• So far, never not required repair of the famous building.

Sydney Opera House - Video

In this video you will learn even more information about the Sydney Opera House. Enjoy watching!

These and many other secrets are hidden behind the walls of the world-famous theater - hurry to see it, touch its secrets and touch the great musical and theatrical art that unfolds daily behind its backstage.

What is the symbol of Australia? Well, yes, a kangaroo, but what else? Well, of course it's a building!

Sydney Opera House - the only building XX century, standing on a par with such great architectural symbols of the XIX as Big Ben, the Statue of Liberty and the Eiffel Tower. Along with Hagia Sophia and the Taj Mahal, this building belongs to the highest cultural achievements last millennium. How did it happen that it was Sydney - even according to the Australians, by no means the most beautiful and elegant city in the world - that got this miracle? And why did no other city compete with him? Why is it that most modern cities are a heap of ugly skyscrapers, while our attempts to mark the end of the passing millennium with the creation of an architectural masterpiece have failed in disgrace?

Prior to the Opera House, Sydney boasted its world famous Bridge. Painted in sullen grey colour, he, like a Calvinist conscience, looms over the city, which was conceived as the Gulag of King George and still cannot free itself from the strong influence of a small island on the other side of the world. One look at our Bridge is enough to not want to look a second time.

Why did it happen? The fact is that the building was designed by one person, the Danish architect Jorn Utzon, and its interior is a confused commission, which the Australian critic Philip Drew called "a bunch of nonentities." This sad story, but it helps to understand why almost all modern architectural structures are so ugly. Like Sydney itself, the Opera House was invented by the British.

In 1945, Sir Eugene Goossens, a violinist and composer, arrived in Australia, who had been invited by the Australian Broadcasting and Television Committee (at that time headed by another refined Briton, Sir Charles Moses) as a conductor to record a concert cycle. Goossens found "unusually fervent interest" among the locals in musical art, but there was practically nowhere to satisfy him, except for the Sydney City Hall, which in its architecture resembled a "wedding cake" in the spirit of the Second Empire, with poor acoustics and a hall with only 2,500 seats. Like many other visitors, Goossens was struck by Sydneysiders' indifference to the magnificent panorama against which the city sprawls, and their love for well-worn European ideas that arose in a completely different historical and cultural context. This "cultural subservience" was later reflected in the skirmish over the foreign-designed Opera House.

Goossens, this lover of bohemian life and tireless bon vivant, knew what was missing here: a palace for opera, ballet, theater and concerts - "society must be aware of modern musical developments." In the company of Kurt Langer, a city planner originally from Vienna, he combed the whole city with true missionary fervor in search of a suitable site. They settled on the rocky promontory of Bennelong Point, near the circular embankment, the junction point where the townspeople changed from ferries to trains and buses. On this promontory, named after an Australian aborigine friend of the first Sydney governor, stood Fort Macquarie, a real monster, a late Victorian imitation of antiquity. Behind its powerful walls with loopholes and jagged turrets, a modest institution was hidden - the central tram depot.

He brought in another opera lover, Stan Haviland, head of the Sydney Water Authority. The ice has broken.

On May 17, 1955, the state government gave permission for the construction of the Bennelong Point Opera House on the condition that public funds were not needed. An international competition was announced for the design of the building. The following year, Cahill's cabinet struggled to hold on to power for a second three-year term. Time was running out, but sanctimonious, provincial New South Wales was already preparing the first retaliatory strike for the fighters for the domestication of Sydney.

Some unknown person called Moses and warned that the luggage of Goossens, who had gone abroad to study opera houses, would be searched at the Sydney airport - then, in the pre-drug era, it was unheard of arrogance. Moses did not inform his friend about this, and upon his return, attributes of the "black mass" were found in Goossens' suitcases, including rubber masks shaped like genitals. It turned out that the musician sometimes whiled away boring Sydney evenings in the company of lovers of black magic, led by a certain Rosalyn (Rowe) Norton - a person very famous in the relevant circles. Goossens claimed that the ritual paraphernalia (which today would not even get a glimpse of at the annual Sydney Gay and Lesbian Ball) was foisted on him by blackmailers. He was fined a hundred pounds, left the position of conductor of the new Sydney Symphony Orchestra and went back to England, where he died in anguish and obscurity. So the Opera House lost its first, most eloquent and influential supporter.

All but one of the contenders began by trying to solve an obvious difficulty: how to fit two opera houses on a small piece of land measuring 250 feet by 350 feet, surrounded on three sides by water? French writer Françoise Fromono, who calls the Opera House one of the "great projects" that have never been realized in their intended form, in her book "Jorn Utzon: Sydney Opera" introduces the reader to the winners of the second and third prizes (by their work it is quite possible to judge the projects of all other contestants).

In only one competition entry, the theaters are placed close to each other, and the problem of walls is removed due to their absence: a series of fan-shaped white roofs is attached directly to the cyclopean podium. The author of the project proposed to store the scenery in special recesses made in a massive platform: this was how the backstage problem was solved. The pile of rejected projects grew, and the jury members returned to this amazingly original work for the umpteenth time. It is said that Saarinen even hired a boat to show his colleagues what the building would look like from the water. On January 29, 1957, a beaming Joe Cahill announced the result. The winner was a Dane of thirty-eight years old, living with his family in a romantic corner near Hamlet's Elsinore, in a house built according to own project(this was one of the few realized plans of the architect). The hard-to-pronounce name of the laureate, which meant nothing to most Sydney people, was: Jorn Utzon

Sometimes in modern megacities one comes across original structures that can amaze the imagination (for example, the Parisian Beaubourg), but basically their appearance is determined by the same type of skyscrapers with a steel frame and panel walls from the building catalog. For the first time in human history most beautiful cities worlds become similar to each other like twins.

During the war, Utzon studied in Denmark, then in Sweden, and could not participate in commercial projects to create such inexpressive structures. Instead, he began to send his work to competitions - after the war, the construction of all kinds of public buildings revived. In 1945, together with a fellow student, he was awarded the Small Gold Medal for the design of a concert hall for Copenhagen. The structure, which remained on paper, was supposed to be erected on a special platform. Utzon borrowed this idea from classical Chinese architecture. Chinese palaces stood on podiums, the height of which corresponded to the greatness of the rulers, and the length of the flights of stairs - the scale of their power. According to Utzon, such platforms had their own advantage: they emphasized the detachment of timeless art from the bustle of the city. Utzon and his colleague topped the concert hall with a copper-clad concrete "sink", the outer profile of which followed the shape of the sound-reflecting ceiling inside the building. This student work already foreshadowed the resounding success that fell to the lot of its author in Sydney eleven years later.

Apparently, in communicating with people, he professed the same principles of strict functionality as in architecture: turning away from his guest, Van der Rohe dictated brief answers to questions to the secretary, who repeated them loudly. Then the family went to Mexico - to look at the Aztec temples in Oaxaca Monte Alban and Yucatan Chichen Itza. Set on massive platforms and accessed by sweeping stairs, these stunning ruins seem to float above a sea of ​​jungle stretching to the horizon. Utzon was looking for architectural masterpieces that are equally attractive from the inside and outside and at the same time are not the product of any one culture (he sought to create an architecture that would absorb elements different cultures). A more striking contrast to the British austere Harbor Bridge than Utzon's Sydney Opera House is hard to imagine, and the best emblem for a growing city claiming a new synthesis of cultures, it was not to be found. In any case, none of the other participants in the 1957 competition even came close to the laureate.

Sydney Opera House during a storm and on a normal day.

The entire Sydney beau monde was fascinated by the winning project, and even more so by its author, who first visited the city in July 1957. (All necessary information about the place of construction Utzon extracted from sea charts.) "Our Gary Cooper!" - one Sydney lady involuntarily burst out when she saw a tall blue-eyed blond and heard his exotic Scandinavian accent, which compares favorably with the coarse local pronunciation. Although the presented project was actually a sketch, a certain Sydney firm estimated the cost of the work at three and a half million pounds. "It doesn't get cheaper!" cackled the Sydney Morning Herald. Utzon volunteered to start a fundraiser selling kisses for a hundred pounds apiece, but this playful offer had to be refused, and the money was raised in a more familiar way - through a lottery, thanks to which construction funds rose by a hundred thousand pounds in two weeks. Utzon returned to Denmark, put together a project team there, and things went well. "We were like a jazz orchestra - everyone knew exactly what was required of him," recalls one of Utzon's associates Jon Lundberg in a wonderful documentary"The edge of the possible". - We spent seven absolutely happy years". The jury chose Utzon's project, believing that one of the greatest buildings in the world can be built from his sketches, but at the same time, experts noted that his drawings are "too simple and look more like sketches." There is an implicit hint of difficulty here which have not been overcome to this day. A huge spectacular staircase leads to two buildings located side by side, and together they create an unforgettable overall silhouette. However, there was practically no space left for traditional side stages. In addition, for opera productions, a hall with a short reverberation time (about 1.2 seconds) so that the words of the singers do not merge, and for a large orchestra this time should be equal to about two seconds, provided that the sound is partially reflected from the side walls.Utzon suggested raising the scenery from the pits behind the stage (this idea could a massive podium), and the shell roofs had to be shaped to meet all acoustic requirements.Love for music, technical ingenuity and great experience in building opera houses make Germany a world leader in the field of acoustics, and Utzon was very wise in inviting Walter Unruh from Berlin as an expert on this part. The government of New South Wales has attracted the design firm of Ove Arup to cooperate with Utzon. The two Danes got along well - perhaps too well, because by the second of March 1959, when Joe Cahill laid the first stone of the new building, the main engineering problems had not yet been solved. Less than a year later, Cahill died. "He adored Utzon for his talent and integrity, and Utzon bowed before his prudent patron because he was a real dreamer in his soul," writes Fromono. Shortly thereafter, Ove Arup stated that 3,000 hours of labor and 1,500 hours of computer time (computers were just beginning to be used in architecture) did not help to find a technical solution to implement the idea of ​​​​Utzon, who proposed building roofs in the form of huge free-form shells. "From a design point of view, its design is simply naive," the London-based planners said.
Utzon himself saved the future pride of Sydney. At first, he intended to "make shells out of reinforcing mesh, dust and tile" - approximately in this way his uncle, the sculptor, made mannequins, but this technique was completely unsuitable for the huge roof of the theater. Utzon's design team and Arup's designers tried dozens of parabolas, ellipsoids, and more exotic surfaces, all of which proved unsuitable. One day in 1961, a deeply frustrated Utzon was dismantling another unusable model and stacking "shells" for storage when he suddenly had an original idea (perhaps thanks to his dyslexia). Similar in shape, shells more or less fit neatly into one pile. Which surface, Utzon asked himself, has a constant curvature? Spherical. The sinks can be made from triangular sections of an imaginary concrete ball 492 feet in diameter, and these sections, in turn, can be assembled from smaller curved triangles, industrially fabricated and pre-tiled on site. The result is vaults of multiple layers, a design known for its strength and stability. So, the problem of roofs was removed.

Subsequently, this decision of Utzon became the reason for his dismissal. But the genius of the Dane cannot be denied. The tiles were laid mechanically, and the roofs turned out to be perfectly flat (it would be impossible to achieve this manually). That is why they are so beautifully played reflected from the water. sun glare. Since any cross-section of the vaults is part of a circle, the outlines of the roofs have the same shape, and the building looks very harmonious. If the fanciful roofs according to Utzon's original sketch could be erected, the theater would seem like a lightweight toy compared to the mighty bridge nearby. Now the look of the building is created by the straight lines of the stairs and the podium, combined with the circles of the roofs - a simple and strong pattern in which the influences of China, Mexico, Greece, Morocco, Denmark and God knows what else have merged, turning this whole vinaigrette from different styles into a single whole. . Used by Utzon aesthetic principles offered an answer to the key question that confronts any modern architect: how to combine functionality and plastic elegance and satisfy people's craving for beauty in our industrial age. Fromono notes that Utzon departed from the "organic style" fashionable at that time, which, according to its discoverer Frank Lloyd Wright, prescribed "holding on to reality with both hands." Unlike the American architect, Utzon wanted to understand what new means of expression can be found by an artist in our time, when machines have replaced humans everywhere.

Meanwhile new form roofs gave rise to new difficulties. Higher, they no longer met the acoustic requirements, and separate sound-reflecting ceilings had to be designed. The openings of the "shells" facing the bay should have been covered with something; from an aesthetic point of view, this was a difficult task (since the walls did not have to look too bare and give the impression that they were propping up vaults) and, according to Utzon, could only be dealt with with the help of plywood. By a happy coincidence, an ardent supporter of this material, an inventor and industrialist, Ralph Symonds, was found in Sydney. When he got bored with making furniture, he bought an abandoned slaughterhouse on Homebush Bay near the Olympic Stadium. There he made the roofs for Sydney trains from solid sheets of plywood measuring 45 by 8 feet, at that time the largest in the world. Coating plywood with a thin layer of bronze, lead and aluminum, Symonds created new materials of any desired shape, size and strength, with any weather resistance and any acoustic properties. This is exactly what Utzon needed to complete the Opera House.

Constructing sound-reflecting ceilings from geometrically shaped pieces proved more difficult than the vaulted roofs that Utzon liked to demonstrate by cutting orange peels into pieces. He studied the Ying Zao Fa Shi treatise on prefabricated consoles supporting the roofs of Chinese temples for a long time and carefully. However, the principle of repetition underlying the new architectural style, required the use of industrial technology, with which it was possible to produce homogeneous elements. In the end, Utzon's design team settled on the following idea: if you roll along inclined plane an imaginary drum about six hundred feet in diameter, it will leave a trail in the form of a continuous row of troughs. Such chutes, which were supposed to be made at the Symonds factory from equally curved parts, could simultaneously reflect sound and draw the audience's eyes to the arches of the proscenium of the Great and Small Halls. It turned out that the ceilings (as well as the concrete elements of the roofs) can be made in advance, and then transported to where it is required on barges - approximately the same way unfinished ship hulls were delivered to the shipyard of Utzon Sr. The largest flute, corresponding to the lowest notes of the organ, was to be 140 feet long.

Utzon wanted to paint the acoustic ceilings in very dramatic colors: scarlet and gold in the Great Hall, blue and silver in the Small Hall (a combination he borrowed from the coral fish of the Great Barrier Reef). After consulting with Symonds, he decided to close the mouths of the "shells" with giant glass walls with plywood mullions, attached to the ribs of the vault and curved in accordance with the shape of the vestibules below them. Light and strong, like the wing of a sea bird, the whole structure, thanks to the play of light, was supposed to create a sense of mystery, the unpredictability of what lies inside. Passionate about inventing, Utzon worked with Symonds' engineers to design bathrooms, railings, doors, all from a magical new material. The experience of the joint work of an architect and an industrialist using advanced technologies was unfamiliar to the Australians. Although, in fact, this is just a modernized version of the old European tradition- cooperation of medieval architects with craftsmen-masons. In the era of universal religiosity, serving God required complete dedication from a person. Time and money didn't matter. One modern masterpiece is still being built according to these principles: The Expiatory Church of the Holy Family (Sagrada Familia) by the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí was founded in 1882, Gaudí himself died in 1926, and the construction is still not completed and is only progressing how Barcelona enthusiasts raise the necessary funds. For some time it seemed that the old days had returned, only now people were not serving God, but art: ardent fans of Utzon bought lottery tickets, donating fifty thousand pounds a week, and thus freed taxpayers from the financial burden. Meanwhile, clouds were gathering over the architect and his creation.

The first estimate of the cost of the project at three and a half million pounds was made "by eye" by a reporter who was in a hurry to submit an article to typesetting. It turned out that even the cost of the first contract - for the construction of the foundation and the podium - estimated at 2.75 million pounds, is much lower than the real one. The haste of Joe Cahill, in laying the foundation stone before all the engineering problems were solved, was politically justified - Labor was losing popularity - but it forced the designers to randomly choose the load that the as yet undesigned vaults were to put on the podium. When Utzon decided to make the roofs spherical, he had to blow up the foundation he had begun and lay a new, more durable one. In January 1963, a £6.25 million roofing contract was awarded, another example of unjustified optimism. Three months later, when Utzon moved to Sydney, the spending cap was raised to $12.5 million. Rising costs and the slow pace of construction did not escape the attention of those who sat in Sydney's oldest public building, Parliament House, which was called the "drunken shop" because the prisoners and exiles who built it worked only for booze. Since then, corruption in Welsh political circles has been the talk of the town. On the very first day when the winner of the competition was announced, and even earlier, a wave of criticism arose. The countryside, traditionally opposed to the Sydneysiders, did not like the fact that most of the money ends up in the capital, even if it was collected through a lottery. Utzon was forced to step down as head of construction and leave Sydney for good. The next seven years and huge sums of money went into mutilating his masterpiece.

Speaking bitterly about further events, Philip Drew, author of a book about Utzon, reports that immediately after the election, Askin lost all interest in the Opera House and almost did not mention it until his death in 1981 (note, by the way, that he died multimillionaire). According to Drew, the role of the main villain in this story belongs to the minister public works Davis Hughes, former school teacher from provincial Orange, who, like Utzon, is still alive. Referring to the documents, Drew accuses him of plotting to remove Utzon even before the election.

Called to Hughes on the carpet, in full confidence that the Minister of Public Works would talk about sewers, dams and bridges, Utzon did not feel the danger. Moreover, he was flattered to see that the office of the new minister was hung with sketches and photographs of his creation. "I decided that Hughes was doomed to my Opera House," he recalled years later. In a sense, it was. Hughes personally led the investigation into the "Opera scandal" promised at the time election campaign and didn't miss a single detail. Looking for a way to topple Utzon, he turned to government architect Bill Wood. He advised to suspend monthly cash payments, without which Utzon could not continue to work. Hughes then demanded that detailed drawings of the building be presented to him for approval in order to open competition contractors. This mechanism, invented in the 19th century to prevent government officials from being bribed, was suitable for laying sewer pipes and building roads, but was completely inapplicable in this case.

The inevitable denouement came in early 1966, when £51,626 had to be paid to the designers of equipment for opera productions in the Great Hall. Hughes in Once again suspended disbursement of money. In a state of extreme annoyance (exacerbated, according to Drew, by the plight of Utzon himself, who had to pay taxes on his earnings to both the Australian and Danish governments), the architect tried to influence Hughes with a veiled threat. On February 28, 1966, refusing his salary, Utzon told the minister: "You forced me to leave my post." Following the architect out of Hughes's office, Bill Wheatland, a member of the then design team, turned to see "the minister leaning over the table, hiding a satisfied grin." Hughes called an emergency meeting that evening and announced that Utzon had "resigned" his position, but that the Opera House would not be difficult to complete without him. However, there was one obvious problem: Utzon won the competition and acquired world fame at least among architects. Hughes looked for a replacement ahead of time and appointed in his place the thirty-four-year-old Peter Hall from the Department of Public Works, who built several university buildings with public funds. Hall was associated with Utzon for a long time friendly relations and he hoped to enlist his support, but, to his surprise, was refused. Sydney architecture students, led by an indignant Harry Seidler, picketed the unfinished building with slogans "Bring back Utzon!" Most of government architects, including Peter Hall, submitted a petition to Hughes stating that "both technically and ethically, Utzon - only person, capable of completing the construction of the Opera House. " Hughes did not flinch, and Hall's appointment took place.

Poorly versed in music and acoustics, Hall and his retinue - now all Australians - went on another tour of opera houses. In New York, expert Ben Schlanger expressed the opinion that in Sydney theater in general, it is impossible to stage an opera - except perhaps in an abbreviated form and only in the Small Hall. Drew proves him wrong: there are plenty of dual-purpose halls with good acoustics, including Tokyo, designed by the Danish genius's former assistant, Yuzo Mikami. The stage equipment that had arrived from Europe during Utzon's last days in office was sold for scrap metal at fiftypence a pound, and a recording studio was set up in a remote space under the stage. The changes Hall and his team made cost $4.7 million. The result was an inexpressive, outdated interior - we see it now. Hall's innovations did not affect the appearance of the Opera, on which it is based world fame, with one (unfortunately, too noticeable) exception. He replaced the plywood mullions for the glass walls, reminiscent of the wings of a gull, with painted steel windows in the fashion of the 60s. But he failed to cope with the geometry: the windows, mutilated by strange bulges, are a harbinger of a complete collapse inside the premises.

By October 20, 1973, the day grand opening Opera by Queen Elizabeth, construction costs amounted to 102 million Australian dollars (51 million pounds at the then exchange rate). 75 percent of this amount was spent after the departure of Utzon. Architecture professor and Sydney cartoonist George Molnar put a scathing caption under one of his drawings: "Mr. Hughes is right. We must control costs, whatever the cost." "If Mr. Utzon had stayed, we wouldn't have lost anything," the Sydney Morning Herald sadly added, seven years late. Peter Hall was sure that the work on restructuring the Opera House would glorify his name, but he never received another significant commission. He died in Sydney in 1989, forgotten by everyone. Sensing that the Labor Party was gaining strength again, Hughes, even before the opening of the Opera, changed his post to the sinecure of the representative of New South Wales in London and doomed himself to further obscurity. If he is remembered in Sydney, it is only as a vandal who mutilated the pride of the metropolis. Hughes still maintains that the Opera House would never have been completed without him. A bronze plaque, emblazoned at the entrance since 1973, eloquently testifies to his ambitions: after the names of the crowned persons, the name of the Minister of Public Works, the Honorable Davis Hughes, is engraved on it, followed by the names of Peter Hall and his assistants. Utzon's name is not on this list, he was not even mentioned in Elizabeth's solemn speech - a shameful impoliteness, for in the days of the Dane's glory, the monarch received him on board her yacht in Sydney Harbor.

Still hoping for a second invitation to Sydney, Utzon did not stop thinking about his plan in Denmark. He twice approached with a proposal to continue the work, but both times received an icy refusal from the minister. dark night In 1968, the desperate Utzon arranged a ritual funeral for his theater: he burned the last models and drawings on the shore of a desert fiord in Jutland. In Denmark, they were well aware of his troubles, so there was no need to wait for decent orders from fellow countrymen. Utzon resorted to a common way among architects to wait out the dark times - he began to build a house for himself in Mallorca. In 1972, on the recommendation of Leslie Martin, one of the jury members of the Sydney competition, Utzon and his son Jan were commissioned to design the National Assembly in Kuwait.

This Assembly, built on the shores of the Persian Gulf, is reminiscent of the Sydney Opera House: it also has two rooms located side by side, and in the middle is a canopy-like roof, under which, according to Utzon, Kuwaiti legislators could relax in the coolness under the whisper of air conditioners. Although some have accused Utzon of never finishing what he starts, this building was completed in 1982 but almost completely destroyed during the 1991 Iraqi invasion. The newly built Assembly no longer sports Scandinavian crystal chandeliers and gilding over Utzon's sober teak interior, and its courtyard has been turned into a car park. In Denmark, Utzon designed a church, a furniture store, a telephone booth, a garage with a defiant reprise of the glass walls of the Opera - that's probably all. The highly publicized theater project in Zurich never came to fruition, but that was not Utzon's fault. His architecture, which uses standardized building blocks that are then laid down in a sculptural fashion, has found few followers: it is good from an aesthetic point of view, not from a commercial point of view, and has nothing to do with the primitive in design and camouflaged "classic" towers, in such abundant in the era of postmodernism.

Of all the attractions in Australia, the Sydney Opera House attracts the largest number tourists. Even before the Olympics, it became one of the most famous buildings in the world. Sydney people would be happy to get rid of the pompous tinsel of the 60s and complete the Opera the way Utzon wanted - today money is not a problem for them. But the train left. The Mallorcan recluse is no longer the same young dreamer who won the competition. Utzon's reluctance to see his mutilated offspring can be understood. True, he nevertheless agreed to sign a vague document, on the basis of which it is supposed to develop a project for the restoration of the Opera worth 35 million pounds. According to this document, the son of Utzon, Jan, will be the chief architect of the construction. But you cannot create a great masterpiece from someone else's words, even if these are the words of Utzon himself. His Opera House with a gigantic stage and a stunningly beautiful interior forever remained only a wonderful idea that was not destined to come true.

Perhaps this could not have been avoided. As everybody great artists, Utzon strives for perfection, believing that this is exactly what both the customer and his own conscience require of him. But architecture rarely becomes an art, it is rather akin to a business that seeks to satisfy conflicting requirements, and even at the lowest cost. And we should be grateful to fate that the rare union of an atheist visionary and a naive provincial town gave us a building whose appearance is almost perfect. "You will never get tired of it, you will never get tired of it," Utzon predicted in 1965. He was right: it would never really happen.

The Sydney Opera House in Australia, Sydney Opera House, is one of the main attractions of the big city Australia, and the entire continent. Seeing it only once, you will never confuse this theater with any other building in the world. The architecture of the building was duly appreciated by contemporaries, the theater has been recognized since its opening calling card Sydney and Australia.

The Opera House is located in Sydney Harbour, at Bennelong Point. Before its creation, a tram depot was located on this site, even earlier - a fort.

The history of the theater began back in 1955, when the government gave permission to build on the cape on one condition - the project would not be funded by the state. Despite the technical difficulties of implementing the project - the cape is surrounded by water on three sides, and two opera houses were to be located on a site of only 350 x 250 feet - 223 entries entered the international design competition. And won it brilliant project Dane from Elsinore Jorn Utson, his idea to build two theaters close to each other without walls, only with a row of fan-shaped white roofs, captivated the jury of the competition.

Opera House in Sydney.

The construction of the opera lasted for a long 14 years, and cost 102 million Australian dollars.

On October 20, 1973, the theater was inaugurated by Queen Elizabeth II of England. And the first performance under its arches was "War and Peace" by Sergei Prokofiev. The theater hosts more than 3,000 performances annually, with more than 2 million Australians and visitors to their audiences.

And in 2003, Jorn Utson was awarded the Pritzker Prize for the project.

Video about the Sydney Opera House from National Geographic:

Today, the Sydney Opera House serves as the cultural center of the continent. Its premises house the Australian Opera, the Symphony Orchestra, the Australian Ballet, the Theater Company and the Dance Company. Opera hall, concert hall, chamber hall and drama theater hall. Several bars, restaurants, and a hall for ceremonial receptions. The world's largest mechanical organ, the world's largest theater curtain - all this is located under the wonderful domes of the Sydney Opera House.

The architecture of this wonder of the world is striking in its grandeur and scope. With a height of about 185 meters and a maximum width of 120, the building weighs 161,000 tons and rests on 580 piles immersed in the waters of the harbor to a depth of 25 meters below sea level. Its electricity consumption is comparable to that of a small town with a population of 25,000 people.

And the Sydney Opera House deserves to be seen with your own eyes.

The Sydney Opera House is an outstanding architectural building of the 20th century. It was nominated for the title of a new wonder of the world, and was among the finalists. Listed by UNESCO, this building is a popular tourist symbol of Australia.

The Sydney Opera House is located in the local harbor at Bennelong Point. The building was built on 580 concrete piles driven into the bottom. Its length is 183 m, width - 118, and the occupied area - more than 21.5 thousand m 2. The maximum height of the building is 67 m.

Interesting Facts about the Sydney Opera House are not only about the history of construction and architectural implementation (they will be discussed below). No other theater has a work about him in its repertoire. The opera The Eighth Wonder is the only precedent.

History of the Sydney Opera House

Sydney until the middle of the 20th century. did not have an opera house at all. The guest conductor of the local symphony orchestra, Eugene Goossens, considered this situation unacceptable. The Sydney authorities agreed with him, but did not have the funds for construction. In 1954 they launched a fundraiser that lasted two decades. During this period, about 10,000,000 AUD were collected. The initially declared cost of the construction in 7000000 AUD eventually turned into actually spent 102000000 AUD.

Under the terms of the announced competition, the limited area of ​​Cape Bennelong was assigned as the place for the construction of the theater. The main hall for 3,000 seats of the designed building was reserved for opera and ballet. The Small Hall for 1200 spectators was planned for chamber theatrical and musical productions. Among 233 contestants, the young Danish architect Jorn Utson won. According to his project, the building outwardly resembled a multi-sail ship on the water surface surrounding the cape.

The work that began in 1959 dragged on for 14 years instead of the planned four, extending the date of construction until 1973. The delay had both objective and subjective reasons. The first includes the demand of the authorities to add two additional halls. And the sail-like roof shells originally designed by Jorn Utson had acoustical shortcomings. It took the architect several years to find an alternative technical solution. The new vault turned out to be too heavy for the foundation made, and a new one had to be made.

Additional spending and delays in construction strained Utson's relationship with the local authorities, and he left Sydney. In 1966, construction was continued by local architects. According to many experts, this had a negative impact on the interior of the building. The theater inside is significantly inferior to the stunning facade.

The Sydney new building actually opened on September 28, 1973 with Sergei Prokofiev's opera War and Peace. The official ceremony took place on October 20 with the participation of the British monarch Elizabeth II, who is the formal head of Australia.

The architect of the Sydney Opera House was not present at the opening, and was not even mentioned. Neither is his name on the bronze plaque of the authors at the entrance. True, in the same year, the local Institute of Architects awarded Jorn Utson with a gold medal. And in 2003, he received the Pritzker Prize for his project - the highest award architects.

In 1999, Jörn Utsson nevertheless designed the reconstruction of the Reception Hall, later renamed in his honor. The work was supervised by Jorn's son architect Jan Utson. And Yorn himself did not return to Sydney after 1966. He died in 2008 without seeing his famous creation with his own eyes. The floodlights illuminating the Sydney Opera House were turned off for an hour in memory of the great architect.

Sydney Opera House its architect and architect

Opera houses are usually built in the classical style. In contrast, the building Sydney Opera- a vivid example of the architectural style of expressionism. The unique roof is realized in the form of sails of different sizes. Surrounded on three sides by water, the building from a distance looks like a large multi-sail ship moored in Sydney Harbor. That's how I saw future theater its architect. He said that he wanted to take the audience away from the usual routine into a fantasy world where actors and musicians live.

The area allocated for construction was limited. The projects rejected by the jury of the competition had a common drawback - cumbersomeness. Jörn Utson solved this problem by transferring attention to the architectural dominant of the building - the roof. Its total diameter is 150 m. The roof frame consists of 2 thousand concrete sections and weighs 30 tons. The two largest sails crown both main halls, originally conceived. Under the smallest sail is the Bennelong restaurant. The whole structure is fastened with metal cables, with a total length of 350 km.

The uneven roof height initially caused acoustic problems. They were filmed using a sound-reflecting ceiling with special gutters. The latter, except practical function, performed also aesthetic, emphasizing the arches of the stage.

On top, the sail roofs are covered with white polished and cream matte azulejo tiles (Portuguese tiles). It was specially made for the theatre. Matte tiles predominate along the edges, while shiny tiles dominate in the center, which made it possible to create an iridescent effect. It took more than a million pieces of tiles to cover a total area of ​​1.62 hectares. The mechanical method of laying made it possible to achieve perfect evenness, unattainable with manual cladding.

Although from a distance the sails of the roof appear white, they change their shade depending on the lighting. As the architect said, the sun and clouds will make the roof alive, you will never get tired of looking at it. He turned out to be right.

Sydney Opera House inside

The functional purpose of the main halls has changed. The main hall, originally planned for opera and ballet performances, was decided to be converted into a concert hall. Actually, the second largest hall became the opera house. Now the complex has 6 main halls.

• Concert Hall (Concert) for 2679 spectators. It has one of the world's largest organs with 10,000 pipes. The 17*11 m stage can be expanded with 85 front seats.
• Opera Theater(Opera) accommodates 1547 spectators. Its tapestry curtain, called "Solar" - the largest on the planet.
• Drama Theater (Dramatic) for 544 spectators is used for theatrical and dance performances. Its dark tapestry curtain is called "Lunar".
• The Playhouse hall with 398 seats hosts chamber theatrical performances, lectures and film screenings. The hall stage can be expanded in two stages by sacrificing 46 seats.
• Opened in 1999, the “Studio” hall can gather 364 lovers of avant-garde plays, contemporary music or corporates.
• The small hall of Jorn Utson is decorated with a woolen tapestry in bright colors, woven according to his sketch.

The theater complex includes about a thousand different rooms. In addition to the halls, the building has rehearsal rooms, theater platforms, a recording studio, shops, cafes, restaurants and numerous other facilities. It is not difficult for a person who does not know the plan of the theater to get lost in it.

There is an anecdotal case with a novice courier who delivered a package. He got confused in the premises and ended up on stage during the performance. Fortunately, one of the actors was not taken aback and said: “Finally, the package was delivered!”. The audience considered his remark part of the plot.

Another comical incident occurred during the performance of Mussorgsky's opera Boris Godunov. Her scenery included real chickens. One of them flew off the stage onto the musician's head. After that, a grid was installed over the orchestra pit.

Theater tickets

At the Sydney Opera House at Bennelong point, Sydney NSW 2000, around three thousand cultural events attended by millions of spectators. You can get acquainted with the repertoire and order tickets on the official website.

300 thousand tourists annually visit the theater as part of organized excursions. They are held from 9:00 to 17:00 every day, except for Christmas and Good Friday, and last about an hour.

The cost of a regular tour is 35 AUD. Evening excursions are also practiced, combined with a performance, as well as dinner in a restaurant or cafe. For example, a tour and Mozart's opera "The Magic Flute" will be well complemented by dinner at the Mozart bistro.