![]() In 2003, Utzon was awarded the Pritzker Prize, architecture’s highest honor. The power of his voice so inspired the assembled engineers, architects and workers that they re-dedicated themselves to their task, vowing to let no hurdle stand in the way of seeing the dream completed. ![]() More than once, talk of abandoning the project was heard.īut then, by merest chance, world famous tenor Paul Robeson found himself in Sydney one day and decided to give an impromptu concert at the site of the construction. In fact, delay after delay beset the project as engineers wrestled with how to turn Utzon’s vision into reality. Due to the enormous engineering challenges presented by the design, the building would not be completed until 1973. But Sydney decided to push ahead and construction started in 1958. Many doubted whether Utzon’s vision could even be built. The concept was too bold, too out of the ordinary, too brash. But his vision so impressed world renowned architect Eero Saarinen, who was asked to help make the final selection, that he was rescued it from a pile of discarded designs and declared it the winner. ![]() Utzon’s submission amounted to little more than some rough sketches with few architectural details. So different, in fact, that it was rejected initially by the design committee. But one, from Danish architect Jørn Utzon, was different. Some were just square concrete boxes reminiscent of Soviet era architecture. A call went out around the world for people to submit design proposals. In 1948, the director of the Sydney Opera proposed the construction of new facility. The story of how the Sydney Opera House came to be fascinating. Just as the Taj Mahal stands as a symbol of India, this bold, sweeping structure on the shores of Sydney Harbor has come to define how Australians see themselves and and how the rest of the world sees Australia - bold, confident and self-assured. That rude awakening caused a national identity crisis. Suddenly, they found themselves all alone in the vast Pacific and they realized they were not really a part of Europe at all, but rather an adjunct of Asia. Most people don’t know the original design was rescued from the waste basket.ĭuring World War II, Australians were shocked when England all but abandoned them and then had the nerve to ask their soldiers to help British forces elsewhere. Its soaring rooftops mimic the billowing sails on the ships that brought so many to Australia from foreign lands. The Sydney Opera House is one of the most photographed buildings in the world.
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