The Sydney Opera House is one of Australia’s most iconic buildings in the world, so no trip to this country is complete without visiting it. It is a fascinating building, which is located on the shores of Sydney Harbour, and is mainly famous for its architectural beauty. What has earned it the recognition of World Heritage by UNESCO.
However, its fame is also based on the fact that it is one of the most important places in the world when it comes to performing arts. This is thanks to the fact that many concerts and events take place there, to be precise we are talking about about 3000 performances a year.
While it may seem like this is all we need to know about this building, the truth is that there is still a lot to learn from it. So, below, we’ll take a look at some fun and interesting facts about the Sydney Opera House that many don’t know about and are worth discovering.
1. There was a competition to design the building.
In 1956, a competition was held to design the future Sydney Opera House, with 232 entrants and judges from as far away as the United States participating in the selection of the best design. The winner of the competition was the Danish architect Jorn Utzon, who received a cash prize of 5,000 pounds for his design.
However, the competition would not be easy for him. Well, he had initially been rejected by three of the contest judges. But the beauty and extraordinary form of his proposal would leave the American architect Eero Saarinen fascinated, who served as the fourth judge of the contest and would be the maximum defender of his choice. Since he considered that his design was spectacular.
The funny thing is that before submitting his work, Utzon had never been to the site where the Sydney Opera House would be built. He only used his naval experience to study the maps of the port where the building would be built.
2. The Sydney Opera House is only closed two days a year.
Since its first opening in 1973, the Sydney Opera House has been open to visitors 24 hours a day, so they can tour it any day of the year. However, you should know that of the 365 days of the year there are two days when you will not be able to do so and that is December 25 and Good Friday.
Although also, in case of major natural disasters and extreme weather conditions, the Sydney Opera House will remain closed to the public for security reasons.
3. Queen Elizabeth II opened the Sydney Opera House.
At the opening ceremony of the Sydney Opera House on October 20, 1973, the opening program featured Queen Elizabeth II, who officially opened the opera house to the public. She and she did it by giving a speech in which she spoke to the local community about the importance and significance of the opening of the Sydney Opera House.
4. Its construction took longer than expected
Construction work began in 1959 with 10,000 construction workers and the initial plan for completion of the Sydney Opera House was 4 years. However, work would stall after Jorn Utzon resigned as chief architect in 1966.
But in addition to the difficulty of recreating Utzon’s designs, the Australian government ran into other problems in completing it. Although 14 years later and thanks to the participation of several of the best construction companies in the world, the construction of the Sydney Opera House would be successfully completed.
5. The construction of the Opera House was expensive
Not only did the construction work take longer than anticipated, but the cost of the Sydney Opera House was much higher than budgeted.
Originally the budget needed to build the Sydney Opera House had been estimated at $7 million. However, as a result of design complications and the delay of several years in the construction schedule, the work required a higher budget. The final cost of the Sydney Opera House would then be $102 million. An amount that was 14 times more than the original budget, although it was paid for by a state lottery.
6. The Sydney Opera House has been featured in several movies
As we mentioned, the Sydney Opera House is world famous and has become an obligatory point of reference for Australia in the world. So it is not uncommon that, due to this, it also appears in countless movies, in which they seek to set a scene in Australia. To put just two as an example, we can mention «Mission Impossible 2» by Tom Cruise or «Finding Nemo» by Disney Pixar.
7. The Sydney Opera House varies its lighting according to the time of year
Once the sun goes down, the Sydney Opera House illuminates its sails with thousands of brilliantly colored lights displaying shapes and images. But what some visitors may not notice is that depending on the time of year, your lighting theme will change along with the images you display.
8. Its cooling system uses seawater from the surrounding port.
Musical instruments are said to work best at a certain temperature and humidity level. So, to maintain the ideal temperature, a cooling system is employed that uses the cold water from the surrounding port as the cooling fluid. But the cold water that runs through 35 kilometers of underground pipes is also used to heat the building.
9. It has the largest mechanical organ in the world.
The Great Organ of the Concert Hall is considered the largest mechanical organ in the world and its construction took 10 years. To get an idea of its size, we can tell you that it is made up of 10,154 pipes. Often this organ is used for musical performances, but also to provide music for plays.
10. The first unofficial performance at the Opera House was in 1960.
Although there have been many shows that the Sydney Opera House has seen, the first musical performance held at the Sydney Opera House was held in 1960 and whoever did it was Paul Robeson. The singer visited the workers during the construction and climbing the scaffolding of the building he entertained the workers while they had lunch.
11. The visit to the Sydney Opera House is free for all visitors.
An interesting fact that your visitors will surely love is that the Sydney Opera House allows visitors to enter its facilities for free. But it also gives them the chance to explore the building for as long as they want. The mere fact that access is free means that many come to see this famous building and, in addition to a photo, they can enjoy a day of culture.
However, to learn more about your visit, it also offers paid guided tours, which allow you to immerse yourself in the history and details behind the making of this famous opera.
12. Is it very big?
The Sydney Opera House is 187 meters long and 120 meters wide, making it much larger in size than a football field. The entire building covers an area of 5,798 hectares of land, a space in which 8 Boeing 747 aircraft could be placed wing to wing.
13. What is the largest recorded crowd to attend a performance at the Sydney Opera House?
The largest concert in terms of attendance ever held at the Sydney Opera House was held in 1996. This honor goes to a Melbourne-based band called Crowded House, who performed a farewell concert estimated to have been attended by around 250,000 people. Making it the largest total audience the Sydney Opera House has ever served.