 |
| sidney opera house
architect |
|
Australia is one of the most distinctive buildings around the world, a highly recognized icon of architecture. It is situated on Bennelong Point in Sydney Harbor and was designed by Danish architect Jorn Utzon. People often say the the building resembles the sails of ancient sailing ships and it is these white sail-shaped shells as the roof structure which make the Opera House one of the most photographed buildings in the world. Jorn Utzon had a fascination with nature as well as the architectural legacies of the ancient Mayas for instance, and this developed into what Utzon referred to as Addictive Architecture ( Sidney Opera House Architect ).
In spite of pressure to select and Australian architect, The New South Wales Government called an open-ended international design competition to attract the best design talent in the world which attracted more than 200 entries from around the world. Jorn Utzon won and was commissioned as the sole architect to design the Opera House, coming with a list of wonderful creative and utterly unique architectural ideas. Jorn Utzon, described as a creative genius, used his maritime background to study naval charts of Sydney harbor, and with his exposure to shipbuilding, this gave him his superb and inspired ideas for the Sydney Opera House. The Sydney Opera House is open 24/7, every day of the year and hosts some 3,000 events each year.
The entire structure is made up of a massive concrete podium which gives the appearance of the Opera House floating on water. The Sydney Opera House is the epitome of outstanding 20th century architecture, and even world famous architect Frank Gehry stated that «Utzon made a building well ahead of its time, far ahead of available technology, and he persevered» This modern Expressionist building was designed by an architect who endured plenty of negative criticism to build a majestic building that has changed the image of an entire country. The government withheld fee payments to Utzon, forcing him to resign in 1966 before Stage II was completed. Utzon had worked for 9 years on the project, and the new architects took another seven years to complete the building at a final cost of $102 million.
The new design architect accepted the new ideas and completed the interiors. Visitors to the Sidney Opera House are actually disappointed with the discrepancy between the spectacular exterior and some of the ordinary interiors. On 28 June 2007, this architectural masterpiece was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its amazing innovative design ideas and construction techniques. The first venue at Sydney Opera House, with splendid views of Sydney Harbor, was recently renamed the Utzon Room in honor of the highly talented architect.
This room features warm, natural timbers and is renowned for its 14m tapestry, Utzon’s own decorative artwork. The largest hall of the Opera House is the Concert Hall, which can seat 2,679 people. Some 185 meters long and 120 meters wide, and supported on 580 concrete piers, the Sydney Opera House has 1000 rooms which are made up of theaters, rehearsal studios, restaurants, halls, bars and shops. The roof of Sydney Opera House is constructed of 1,056,000 glazed white granite tiles which were imported from Sweden.
The spectacular roof alone took Utzon and Ove Arup and Partners some five years to come up with ideas and solutions for the roof, and a variety of geometries were investigated. The shells were first designed as a series of parabolas, but the engineers weren’t able to find an acceptable way to construct them. Utzon eventually suggested the shells be created as ribs from a sphere of the same radius, creating the renowned shapes so loved and recognized today.
Reviewed by Ismail Fahmi
on
July 27, 2020
Rating:
No comments:
Post a Comment