ABSTRACT
In 1955 the then Premier of New South Wales in Australia announced a competition to design and build the new opera house in Sydney’s Bennelong Point. Invitations to take part were issued to 230 architects from all over the world. There was euphoria about the build, later hailed as a modern masterpiece. Today it represents an iconic building of its time. Jon Utzon, a Danish architect, and his team were selected. At the time it was projected to cost AU$6 million and be completed by January 1963. Six years seemed to everyone like a reasonable time to construct and finish such a building. Building started almost immediately even though Utzon had still not completed the final designs and major structural issues still remained unresolved. However the government of the day had pushed for work to begin early, fearing that funding, or public opinion, might turn against them. The level of optimism the government demonstrated in failing to recognise the enormous complexity (given the site until then had been zoned as swampland) and size of this sponsored project, larger than anything the government had ever attempted, was almost breathtaking.
