The green continent is famous all over the world not only for kangaroos, koalas, warm ocean and bronze gods of surfing. There are also unique structures. At Cape Bennelong, like a fantastic sailboat, a mass of concrete and glass rises. It's famous all over. In Sydney every day you can see a lot of tourists. And be sure that one half of them have already seen a unique building, and the other will certainly visit it in the near future.

New miracle

If foreigners easily recognize Moscow by Red Square, the Mausoleum, then the quaint Opera theatre undoubtedly resurrects Sydney in our imagination. Photos of this attraction can be seen on any souvenir from Australia. The snow-white mass towering over the harbor has become one of the masterpieces of world architecture. The building has not only a catchy exterior, but also a curious history.

in numbers

The height of the building is 67 meters. The length of the building is 185 meters, and the distance at its widest point is 120 m. The weight, according to the calculations of engineers, is 161,000 tons, and the area is 2.2 hectares. There are about 1 million tiles on the roof slopes. In addition to the two largest halls, there are more than 900 rooms. At the same time, the theater can accommodate approximately 10,000 spectators. The Sydney Opera House is visited by 4 million people a year.

A bit of history

Australia has never been the center musical culture. By the beginning of the 20th century, the mainland had its own Symphony Orchestra but he did not have his own premises. Only when Eugene Goossens received the position of chief director, they started talking about it out loud. However, military and postwar period not conducive to the beginning of large-scale projects. Only by the middle of the twentieth century, in 1955, the government issued a building permit. But no funds were allocated from the budget. The search for investors began in 1954 and did not stop throughout the construction. In the competition for best project works were presented by 233 architects. Already at this stage it became clear where the new Musical Theatre. In Sydney, of course.

Most of the applications were rejected by the jury, but one of the members of the commission - Eero Saarinen - actively advocated for some unfortunate applicant. It turned out to be a native of Denmark - Jorn Utzon. 4 years were allotted for the implementation of the project, the budget amounted to 7 million dollars. Despite plans, by the end of the 1960s, the Sydney Opera House was still under construction. The architect was accused of not meeting the estimate and not being able to translate his plans into reality. With sin in half, the construction was nevertheless completed. And in 1973, Queen Elizabeth II took part in the opening of the theater. Instead of four years required for construction, the project required 14, and instead of 7 million of the budget - 102. Be that as it may, the building was built to last. Even after 40 years of repair, he still did not need.

The architectural style of the theater

In the post-war period, the so-called international style reigned in architecture, the favorite forms of which were gray concrete boxes for a purely utilitarian purpose. Australia also followed this trend. in Sydney was a happy exception. It was in the 50s that the world got tired of monotony and a new style began to gain popularity - structural expressionism. His great supporter was Eero Saarinen, thanks to whom the little-known Dane conquered Sydney. Photos of this theater can now be found in any textbook on architecture. The building is a classic example of expressionism. The design for that time was innovative, but in the era of the search for fresh forms, it came in handy.

According to the requirement of the government, the premises had to have two halls. One was intended for opera, ballet and symphony concerts, the second - for chamber music and dramatic performances. The architect designed the Sydney Opera House in fact from two buildings, and not from the same number of halls. It is noteworthy that in fact it is devoid of walls. On a single base is a structure of many roofs in the shape of a sail. They are covered with white self-cleaning tiles. During festivals and holidays, grandiose light shows are arranged on the vaults of the opera.

What is inside?

Under the two largest vaults there are concert and opera zones. They are very large and have their own names. "Concert Hall" - the largest. Almost 2,700 spectators can sit here. The second largest is the Opera Hall. It is designed for 1547 people. It is decorated with the "Curtain of the Sun" - the largest in the world. There is also a "Curtain of the Moon" paired to it, located in the "Drama Hall". As the name suggests, it is intended for dramatic productions. Film screenings are held in the Playhouse. Sometimes it serves as a lecture hall. "Studio Hall" is the newest of all. Here you can join the modern theatrical art.

Wood, plywood and pink Turin granite were used in the decoration of the premises. Some interior fragments evoke associations with a ship's deck, continuing the theme of a giant ship.

Some say that the Sydney Opera House is a fantastic sailboat, others see a system of grottoes, others see pearl shells. According to one version, Utzon admitted in an interview that he was inspired to create the project by a peel carefully removed from an orange. There is a story that Eero Saarinen chose the project while drunk. Tired of the endless series of applications, the chairman of the commission simply took out a few sheets at random from a common pile. It seems that the legend did not appear without the participation of the envious Utzon.

Beautiful vaulted ceilings disturbed the acoustics in the building. Of course, this was unacceptable for the opera house. To solve the problem, internal ceilings were designed that reflect sound according to all the rules of theatrical construction.

Sadly, Utzon was not destined to see his offspring completed. After being removed from the building, he left Australia, never to return here again. Even after being awarded the prestigious architecture award in 2003, he did not come to Sydney to see the theatre. A year after the UNESCO organization assigned the status of an architect to the opera house, he died.

There are rather conflicting opinions about the most famous building in Australia - the Sydney Opera House. Some consider it a magnificent monument to a frozen melody. Others are embarrassed by the amazingly shaped roof of this structure: to some it resembles huge shells, to some it resembles the sails of the Galleon inflated by the wind, someone associates them with ears listening to the singing of angels, and there is also an opinion that the Sydney theater is very similar to stranded white whale.

In a word, there are as many opinions as there are people, but no one doubts the fact that the Sydney Opera House is a man-made symbol of Australia.

This amazing building is located in Sydney, the most major city Australia, in the harbor of Bennelong Point (on the map it can be found at the following coordinates: 33° 51′ 24.51″ S, 151° 12′ 54.95″ E).

The Sydney Opera House gained world fame primarily due to its roof, made in the form of sails (shells) of different sizes arranged one after another, which make it unlike any other theater in the world. The facade of the opera turned out to be so interesting, unusual, and therefore recognizable, which is considered one of the most outstanding buildings. modern architecture, which has been listed for several years world heritage UNESCO.

The creator of this unique building, Jorn Watson, is the only person in a world whose work this organization recognized during his lifetime (he died a year after this event, in 2008).

Description

The opera house in Australia is primarily unusual in that, unlike other structures of this type, made in classical style, represents bright pattern expressionism, demonstrating A New Look to architecture. Sydney Opera House with three parties surrounded by water, and itself erected on stilts.

The area of ​​the theater is huge and amounts to 22 thousand m2: its length is 185 m, width is 120 m, and in the building itself there is a huge number of rooms, including several theater halls, many small studios and theater platforms, as well as restaurants, bars and shops where anyone can buy a memento from visiting the theater.

The main rooms are four halls:

• The Concert Hall is the largest room in the theatre, capable of accommodating 2679 spectators. It is here that the world's largest organ is installed: it consists of 10 thousand pipes;
• Opera House - 1507 spectators fit in this hall, and on its stage you can see not only opera, but also ballet;
• Drama theater - designed for 544 people;
• Small Drama Stage - designed for 398 people and is considered the most comfortable room in the opera.

sail roof

The most remarkable part of the building, thanks to which the Sydney Opera House has become one of the most interesting theaters in the world, is its roof, made in the form of shells or sails arranged one after another. The roof, which is 67 meters high and 150 meters in diameter, consists of more than 2,000 sections and weighs about 30 tons.

The structure is fixed with metal cables, the total length of which is 350 km. The two main sinks are above the two largest halls of the opera. Other sails are located above the smaller rooms, and one of the restaurants is located under the smallest one.

The tops of the washbasins are mechanically covered with polished white and cream matt tiles, resulting in a completely smooth surface, an effect that would hardly be achieved by laying it by hand. An interesting fact: despite the fact that from a distance it may seem that the roof is painted in White color, depending on the lighting, it constantly changes its shade.

Such a roof structure looks very beautiful and original, but during construction, due to the uneven height of the roof, there were problems with acoustics inside the building, and in order to solve the drawback, a sound-reflecting ceiling had to be made separately. For this, special gutters were made, capable of performing both practical and aesthetic function: Reflect sound and draw attention to the arches located above the front of the stage (the longest chute is about 42 meters long).

Idea author

Interesting fact: to build an opera house in Sydney was the idea of ​​the British Sir Eugene Goossens, who arrived in Australia as a conductor to record a concert on the radio. One can only imagine his surprise when he discovered that there was no opera house in Sydney.

The city also lacked facilities designed for a large audience in which Sydney people could come to listen to music.

Therefore, the decision to do everything in order to build a theater in which the audience will have the opportunity to get acquainted with both classical and the latest musical works, was accepted promptly. He immediately began looking for a suitable place for construction - it turned out to be the rocky promontory of Bennelong Point, near which the embankment was located, which is a key node, since locals from ferries to trains or buses.

Having found a suitable place (there was a tram depot at that time, which was later demolished), Goossens conducted an appropriate campaign and, infecting many with his idea influential people Sydney, got the government to allow the construction of the Opera House. The government immediately announced international competition for the best project. And then things stalled: Goossens had enemies. After one of the international trips, customs officers found the items of the "black mass", fined him, fired him from his job - and he was forced to leave Australia, despite all the assurances that the things did not belong to him.

Contest

More than two hundred works from all over the world were sent to the competition. one more important point was that Goossens not only managed to select a qualified commission, but also gave a description of the competitive project.

The project was supposed to provide for two halls - one for larger, the second - for small productions. The building must have had rooms where rehearsals could be held, props stored, and a place for restaurants.

The task was complicated by the fact that the area on which it was planned to erect the structure had a rather limited size, since it was surrounded by water on three sides. Therefore, most of the projects were rejected for one simple reason: they looked too cumbersome, and the facade of the building was depressing.

And only one work attracted the attention of the jury, forcing them to return to the project over and over again: in the sketch, the theaters were placed close to each other, the problem of bulkiness was removed by focusing on the white roof in the form of sails, and the author suggested storing the scenery and theatrical props in special recesses, thus solving the backstage problem.

The author of the work turned out to be the Dane Jorn Watson (this architect had many similar original projects, but this one turned out to be one of the few that was implemented). Despite the fact that the project presented by him was a sketch, the cost of the work was estimated at 7 million Australians. dollars, which was a reasonable price. The money to start construction was collected through a lottery.

Construction works

While the project was approved, it was obvious that more work should be done on it (some issues have not been resolved to this day). The main problem was how to make a non-standard roof, especially since there is no similar experience in the world. this moment didn't exist.

Watson solved this issue by shaping each sink into a triangle, assembling it from smaller, curved triangles that were mechanically tiled during fabrication. After that, the sails were installed on concrete ribs (frame ribs) arranged in a circle - this made it possible for the roof to get a complete and harmonious look.

This form gave rise to problems with the acoustics of the hall, which the architect managed to solve later, but it entailed considerable financial expenses (for example, since the new vault turned out to be much heavier than the previous one, it was necessary to blow up the already made foundation and start building a stronger and more durable one).

Instead of the estimated 7 million austral. USD construction cost 102 million. Construction proceeded at a very slow pace, which could not but attract the attention of local deputies and opponents of the architect.

And after the Labor Party, which supported the construction, lost the support of the population and the opposition came to power, the money received from the lottery was first frozen (fortunately, there was a pretext), and then they were completely used to build roads and hospitals, forcing Watson in 1966 quit your job and leave Sydney for good.

After that, Hall was appointed the chief architect, who, although he managed to complete the construction in 1973, but according to many experts, the work he carried out significantly spoiled the appearance of the building, and the interior turned out to be unremarkable ( interesting fact, during the preparation of the Olympics in Australia in 2000, the Australians invited Watson to return and finish work on the opera, agreeing to do whatever he says, but he refused).

And so it happened that the Sydney Opera House, which is one of the most magnificent buildings of our time, which is mentioned along with the Taj Mahal and other wonders of the world, although it looks great on the outside, it is no different inside. True, this did not prevent the building from taking part in the competition for the title of one of the seven wonders of the world and, although not being among the winners, was among the main contenders.

The Sydney Opera House

Geographical position

| 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: an 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 on a grand scale, but its history begins much earlier. As early as 1954, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and the New South Wales Conservatory put forward the idea of ​​creating the 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 Bennelong Point once there was a fort, later there was a tram depot. It was decided to erect a spectacular building on this site, which will become the face of the city.

By December 1956, 233 applications had already been received from 28 countries. 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 the judges. Eero Saarinen. It was he who discerned among the rejected options the “clear favorite” - the project of the Dane Jorn Utzona (Jorn 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. A new style called "structural expressionism" or "structuralism". One of his adherents 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 segments of a spherical shape, of constant curvature. A little later, Jorn Utzon will say that the inspiration was the peel of an orange, shot in triangular segments. The difference with the building is only in scale. An 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, and the maximum width is 120 m.

Numerous difficulties arose during the implementation of the project, which led to delays, significant revisions of the original plan and large financial costs. Instead of the planned four years and seven million Australian dollars, the opera was under construction for fourteen years and cost $102 million (that is, it exceeded the initial budget by more than 14.5 (!) times).

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

The perfectly flat roofs of the Sydney Opera House are covered with over a million tiles. Under different lighting, the tiles create a different color scheme and they play beautifully sun glare reflected from the water.

The two largest vaults form the ceiling of the Concert Hall ( concert hall) and the Opera House ( opera theater). In other rooms, the ceilings form clusters of smaller vaults. In the smallest "shell" away from the main entrance and the main staircase is the Bennelong restaurant.

Opera house has always attracted increased attention professionals. In 2003, architect Jörn Utzon was awarded the Pritzker Prize Nobel Prize in architecture).

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 a symbol of this extraordinary city.

Opera House in Sydney

The Sydney Opera House is located in beautiful place, on Cape Bennelong, near the Harbor Bridge. Before the construction of the opera, a fort was located in this area, and after it a transport depot.

The construction of the opera house started in 1959 and dragged on for 4 years. First presented sydney theater Elizabeth II, Queen of England 20 October 1973

Designed the opera famous architect Jorn Utzon. The construction of the opera house is located on an area of ​​2.2 hectares, its length is 185 meters, and its width is 120.

In the construction of the opera house there are about a dozen halls of different sizes for all kinds of gatherings. There are 2.5 thousand seats in the concert hall, 1.5 thousand seats in the opera hall, and over 500 seats in the drama theater hall, and there are also a couple of halls small size, one of the halls is located in the courtyard under the open sky.

In addition to these rooms, Sydney Opera placed 2 scenes and many entertainment venues. Free performances and concerts are continuously held in front of the theater on the square. Here you can listen to national music.

At the same time, up to 4 different performances can be held in the theater on different stages.

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On the territory of the opera there are 6 bars and 4 restaurants, here after the end of the performance, and during the intermission, visitors can refresh themselves and drink refreshing cocktails. There are also numerous souvenir shops for tourists.

In Sydney, the opera house is one of the extraordinary buildings of modern architecture. The property of the Sydney Opera House is the curtain, which is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest on the planet. And another property of the opera house is the largest organ on the planet, with 10,500 pipes, which is also listed in the Guinness Book of Records.

Experts 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.

Entrance inside the building is free, but visiting the opera itself is very problematic. You need to buy a ticket for the opera in a couple of months, the pricing policy is quite high.

For visitors, there are guided tours - every day from 9 to 17 hours. In addition, every morning, at 7 am, they organize a performance with breakfast.

In 2007, the World Organization for the Protection of Monuments of Architecture UNESCO included the Sydney Theater in its famous register.

Construction history

The competition for the right to develop the design of the Sydney Opera House involved 223 architects. In January 1957, the design of the Danish architect Jorn Utzon was declared the winner of the competition, and two years later, the first stone was laid at Bennelong Point in Sydney Harbour. According to preliminary calculations, the construction of the theater was supposed to take 3-4 years and cost $ 7 million. Unfortunately, shortly after the start of work, many difficulties arose that forced the government to move away from Utzon's original plans. And in 1966, Utzon left Sydney after a particularly big quarrel with the city authorities.

A team of young Australian architects took responsibility for completing the construction. The government of New South Wales played a lottery to get 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 is 183 meters long and 118 meters wide, covering an area of ​​over 21,500 square meters. It stands on 580 concrete piles, driven to a depth of 25 m into the clay 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, iridescent, snow-white tiles were used.

The building houses 5 theaters: Bolshoy concert hall for 2,700 seats; own theater for 1,500 seats and less Theatre of Drama, game and theater studio for 350 and 500 seats each. The complex has more than a thousand additional office space, including auditoriums for rehearsals, 4 restaurants and 6 bars.

Data

• Location: The Sydney Opera House is located at Bennelong Point in 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 is 183 meters long and 118 meters wide, covering an area of ​​over 21,500 square meters. 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 provided with electricity through 645 km of cable.