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Sydney Opera House History
History
It was Eugene Goossens, the Director of the New South Wales State Conservatorium of Music, who put forth the proposal for consideration for an exclusive venue for theatrical productions in the late 1940s. During those times the Sydney Town Hall was the venue chosen for such presentations. Also, it was Goossens who suggested Bennelong Point to be the site for the proposed Opera House.
The New South Wales government finally was persuaded to create an appeal fund for the construction of the Sydney Opera House in the late 1950s. A competition was conducted and contestants invited to put forth designs for the prospective Opera House. The contest was won by the Danish architect Jorn Utzon. The design was remarkable also for the fact that Jorn Utzon's vision was so advanced that the design that he had put forth for the Opera House in its original form was beyond the architectural or engineering scope of those times, especially the shells that comprise the roofs of the House.
Subsequently, Jorn Utzon himself reworked the design to make possible the conversion of his vision into reality. Finally, by 1961, his plan for the Sydney Opera House was ready inclusive of the shells that form the roofs which have made the Opera House one of the most distinctive and recognizable buildings of the world. The financial squeezes that the government of New South Wales experienced throughout the saga of the construction of the Opera House were so intense that it was driven to the verge of aborting the project at several points in time.
