Sydney Opera

From Archiplanet

Jump to: navigation, search
TR004388.150.jpg Sydney Opera House
Designer Jorn Utzon
Location Sydney, Australia
Date 1957 to 1973
Building Type opera house
Climate temperate
Context urban waterfront
Architectural Style Expressionist Modern
Street Address
Notes Great stairway, family of forms in spherical section roofs, pure curving shapes that across the harbor in great heroic harmony
At Great Buildings http://www.GreatBuildings.com/buildings/Sydney_Opera.html

Contents


[edit] Images

[edit] Discussion

UNESCO World Heritage Sites
Name Sydney Opera House
UNESCO State Party Australia
Region Asia-Pacific
Type Cultural
Criteria i
UNESCO Site ID 166
Year of Listing 2007



Commentary

"The famous opera house is actually a collection of performance spaces, under white-tiled, sail-shaped concrete vaults. Sitting on Bennelong Point, jutting out into Sydney Harbour, the unforgettable forms have come to be recognized as representing Australia as surely as the Eiffel Tower represents Paris.

"...the citizens of Sydney originally reacted much the same as the Parisians did at first to their new structure. Though universally admired today, the Sydney Opera House was designed and built amid controversy. Utzon entered a design competition for the project in 1957 and initially failed to make the finalist list. However, championed by jury member Eero Saarinen, Utzon's scheme eventually emerged as the winner.

"For the next nine years, Utzon worked in Sydney on design development and the start of construction. He collaborated successfully with engineer Ove Arup in shaping and detailing the distinctive shell vaults.

"As documented in Contemporary Architects, edited by Muriel Emanuel, '... by virtue of [the shells'] shape, their mass is placed where it is most advantageous structurally. Thus the design is the result of a successful integration of the work of an architect and an engineer who together produced an unforgettable architectural image.'"

— ArchitectureWeek No. 142, 2003.0416. pN1.1.

"The construction of the beautiful freestanding, sculptural tripartite Opera House was one of the longest contractual sagas of the century. Sadly, architect Jorn Utzon became the scapegoat of a scandalous political affair and in 1966 withdrew from his project. Sitting on Bennelong Point, virtually in the Harbour and overlooked by the great Sydney Harbour Bridge, the Opera House is completely exposed, as three-dimensional as the orange segments its forms are based on. It is all roofs with an imposing base. These were made possible by Ove Arup. Originally the winner of an international open competition in 1957, it was a scheme that broke most of the rules. It was finally completed in August 1973 by other hands under the direction of Peter Hall."

— Dennis Sharp. Twentieth Century Architecture: a Visual History. p315.

In the long run, Utzon has been credited and acclaimed for the design, warmly indeed by the opera staff.

[1] The neighbour to the Opera - Architectural crime of the century: In the early 2000's a new neighbour was built next to the Sydney Opera House: A residential building referred to by many Sydneysiders as 'the toaster'. Its appearance is of a non expressionist 1990's international style. A category of architecture which originated from the use of materials meant for economic industrial buildings in the first place. The color is of a boring grey and the new building is destroying the once generous open space that led visitors towards the stairways of the Opera. Pressure to capitalize on the land in the vicinity of the Opera clearly kicked in. What once was a one of the most wonderful views of a man made structure in the world is on its way to become an unspectacular mass produced downtown district. For further see - "Sydney the Beautiful" on www.geocities.com/langeneck [2] by Wolfgang Langeneck, Architect, Journalist (Dip), Engineer (Dip).

[edit] Related content from Wikipedia

Sydney Opera House


See a related page at Wikipedia for additional information.


[edit] Maps

[edit] References

"Postcard from Sydney", by Elizabeth Bollinger, ArchitectureWeek No. 311, 2006.1108. pC1.1.

"Jørn Utzon Pritzker Prize", by ArchitectureWeek, ArchitectureWeek No. 142, 2003.0416. pN1.1.

Michael Baume. The Sydney Opera House Affair. Camden, N.J.: Thomas Nelson and Sons, 1967. NA6840.A79S9. section, p103. isometric view of major hall shells, p106.

Francis D. K. Ching. Architecture: Form, Space, and Order. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1979. ISBN 0-442-21535-5. LC 79-18045. NA2760.C46. exterior perspective drawing, p380.— A nice graphic introduction to architectural ideas. Updated 1996 edition available at Amazon.com

Roger H. Clark and Michael Pause. Precedents in Architecture. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1985. geometry diagram, p191. reduction diagram, p210.— Updated edition available at Amazon.com

Philip Drew, Jorn Utzen, Anthony Browell. Sydney Opera House. London: Phaidon Press Ltd., 1995. NA6840.A79S93 1995. ISBN 0-7148-3297-9. Includes many detailed drawings of the Sydney Opera House, very useful for both study and model making. — Cataloged at Amazon.com

Pat Westcott. The Sydney Opera House. Sydney: Ure Smith, 1965. NA6840.A86W4. auditorium level plan, inside front cover. podium level plan, inside front cover. car entrance level plan, inside front cover.

[edit] External Links

Retrieved from "http://www.archiplanet.org/wiki/Sydney_Opera"