The project was fraught with not a few problems, from engineering challenges on how to actually construct it, to differences between the architect and the city’s officials. The expressionist design, a non-linear architectural succession of shells rising out of a massive podium, like waves breaking out of the sea or an orange section, broken in half by hand, indeed caught the jury’s eyes and imagination.Ĭonstruction proceeded two years later along Sydney’s Bennelong Point, but took fourteen tumultuous years to finish. Out of more than two hundred entries from thirty two countries, a Danish architect, Jørn Utzon, bagged the winning design in 1957. Sydney, seeing that the Sydney Town Hall was just not enough to cater to numerous shows and plays, decided to build a dedicated space for the performing arts.

The Sydney Opera House was borne out of an international competition. ONE OF THE ORIGINAL DRAWINGS OF THE OPERA That afternoon saw me gazing at the Sydney Opera House in person-my hands touching its rough prefabricated structure, caressing its glazed roof tiles. Traveling has brought me to many places, and this time, it brought me back to my college days as an architectural student. Now, decades later, my hands swapping cameras and lenses for t-squares and pens, I’ve come full circle with two of my great passions. Breaking out of the box was the most important thing we were taught on our design subjects. I graduated with an Architecture degree at the University of Santo Tomas, and the Sydney Opera House has been one of the most frequent examples we were ingrained with as to how designs shouldn’t just be about boxes. But I was determined not only to see this architectural masterpiece up close, but also feel it against my bare hands. They seemed unfazed and underwhelmed by the opera’s beauty and wasn’t that keen on seeing it up close. My companions were nowhere to be found, probably still busy taking selfies along its grounds. Alone, I ascended the steps leading up to Australia’s iconic Sydney Opera House.

Coordinates of sydney opera house