The Sydney Opera House is one of the most recognizable buildings in the world - up there with the Eiffel Tower and the U.S. Capitol Building - and one of the most photographed.  Not only is it recognizable, it has come to represent Australia. 

This Australian icon, with a roof evocative of a ship at full sail - was designed by Danish architect -Jorn Utzon.  In the late 1950's the New South Wales Government established a fund to finance the construction of the Opera House and conducted a competition for its design.  Utzon's design was chosen.  Interestingly, his design was beyond the capabilities of engineering at the time.  He spent a couple of years reworking the design and by 1961 he had solved the problem of how to build the distinguishing feature - the 'sails' of the roof.

The construction of the opera house was often very difficult.  It experienced numerous cost blow-outs and there were times that the Government almost called a halt.  In 1966, when arguments about the cost and the interior design reached the crisis point, Utzon resigned from the project.  The building was eventually completed by others in 1973.  To this day, Utzon has never returned to Australia to see his finished masterpiece.

The Opera House is situated on Bennelong Point, which reaches out into the Sydney harbor.  The building is remarkable.  It makes no reference to historical architecture or to classical architectural forms.  The roof is more important than the walls.  Thus we need not think of columns, divisions, windows or other ornaments associated with walls.  The organic shape of it's roof and lack of surface decoration have made it totally ageless.  The building and it's setting are in complete harmony.

The Opera House was officially opened by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in 1973.