Sydney Opera House

The building of the Sydney Opera House belongs to those buildings that can not be forgotten at least once. It was built relatively recently - at the beginning of the 20th century, but almost immediately became the national symbol of Australia, recognized in all corners of the world.

Sydney Opera House - interesting facts

1. The Opera House in Sydney was built in 1973 on the project of the Danish architect Jorn Utzon. The project of the building was executed in the style of expressionism and received the main prize at the contest held in 1953. And indeed, the building of the theater turned out to be not just unusual, it just shakes its grace and grandeur. Its external appearance gives birth to associations with beautiful white sailing vessels flying in the waves.
2. Initially, it was planned that the construction of the theater would be completed in four years and seven million dollars. But, as it usually happens, these plans were too optimistic. In reality, construction work was extended for 14 years, and it was necessary to spend a lot, not a little - as much as 102 million Australian dollars! To collect such an impressive amount was possible through the holding of the State Australian Lottery.
3. But it should be noted that a considerable amount was spent not in vain - the building was simply grandiose: the total building area was 1.75 hectares, and the opera house in Sydney was 67 meters high, which is approximately equal to the height of the 22 storey building.
4. For the construction of snow-white sails of the roof of the Opera House in Sydney , unique cranes were used, each costing about $ 100,000. In addition, the Sydney Opera House became the first building in all of Australia, the construction of which involved lifting equipment.
5. In total, the roof of the opera house in Sydney has been assembled from more than 2,000 pre-fabricated sections with a total mass of over 27 tons.
6. For the glazing of all windows and decoration works inside the Sydney Opera House it took more than 6 thousand square meters of glass, which was made by a French company especially for this building.
7. To the slopes of the unusual roof of the building always looked fresh, the tiles for their cladding were also made by special order. Despite the fact that it has an innovative dirt-repellent coating, it is necessary to clean the roof of dirt regularly. In total, more than 1 million pieces of tiles were needed to cover the roof with a total area of ​​1.62 hectares, and it was perfectly possible to lay it perfectly thanks to the use of the mechanical method of laying.
8. In terms of the number of seats, the Sydney Opera House also does not know its peers. In total, five halls of different capacity were found in it - from 398 to 2679 people.
9. Every year more than 3,000 different concert events take place at the Opera House in Sydney, and the total number of spectators attending them is almost 2 million people a year. In total, since opening in 1973 and until 2005, more than 87,000 different performances have been performed on theater stages, and over 52 million people have enjoyed it.
10. The content of such a huge complex in complete order, of course, requires considerable expenses. For example, only one light bulb in the theater premises for a year changes about 15 thousand pieces, and the total energy consumption is comparable to the energy consumption of a small settlement with 25 thousand inhabitants.
11. Sydney Opera House is the only theater in the world, the program of which has a work dedicated to it. It's about an opera called The Eighth Miracle.