WONDERS OF THE WORLD
SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE
WONDERWINNER
In 1956, the New South Wales Government held a competition to design a national opera house. There were 233 entries from 28 countries, and Entry 218 was by Jørn Utzon, a Danish architect. His sketches showed a building that could be viewed from every angle, which set his entry apart. The sculptural style of his unique design also looked like cliffs and sails on Sydney’s harbour. Jørn was announced as the winner on January 29, 1957!
MAKING AT HAPPEN
The Sydney Opera House was predicted to take four years and cost $7,000,000 to build, but took $102,000,000 and 14 years. Jørn’s vision was that the roof shells would contrast with the blues of the water and sky. Swedish company, Höganäs, spent three years creating the special glossy ‘Sydney Tile’. There are 1,056,006 tiles on the roof!
DID YOU KNOW?
The Gadigal people of the Eora Nation are traditional custodians of
