ABSTRACT
This chapter eplores The Eighth Wonder by Alan John, with its evocation of social memories about the period of the construction of the Sydney Opera House, place shares significance with voice. The Eighth Wonder is a layering of stories. The Opera House design competition was held in 1957, in a period of postwar enthusiasm, and won by the Danish architect Jorn Utzon. The controversy over the circumstances of the completion suggests that Australians were aware that something crucial in terms of identity was at stake in the building of the Opera House. Work progresses on the Opera House but there are ongoing problems of construction to be solved. The ecstatic outburst culminates in a description of the Opera House as a 'wonder of the world'. Symbolically, the Sydney Opera House, whose shapes were unlike anything previously envisioned, epitomized a breaking with the past and a new energy.
