Sydney Opera House 50th Anniversary

The Sydney Opera House opened its doors to the world 50 years ago on 20 October 1973. Designed by Danish architect Jørn Utzon (1918–2008), it’s now a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a symbol of Sydney and Australia. The story of the building is itself a grand opera. It opens with a majestic vision, crashes into the hard realities of construction and tightening budgets, plunges into tragedy as the Pritzker Architecture Prize-winning architect is ousted and turns to celebration as the world is gifted a great work of modern architecture.

Powerhouse has a remarkable collection of Sydney Opera House objects, photographs and archives illustrating the building’s entire design development and widespread cultural impact. They include architectural models and drawings by Utzon and engineers Ove Arup and Partners, the ‘Red Book’ and ‘Yellow Book’ folios, a compendium of photographs made by Max Dupain for architect Peter Hall, material relating to the opening of the building, performance costumes worn by Dame Nellie Melba and works of numerous artists inspired by the building (Ken Done, Martin Sharp, Brett Whiteley, Peter Tully, Reg Mombassa and Linda Jackson).

English conductor and composer Sir Eugene Goossens arrived in Sydney in 1947 as the new conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and immediately drew attention to the need for an opera house. The cause was taken up by the NSW Premier John Joseph Cahill who announced an international design competition in February 1956 for an opera house at Bennelong Point. The following year, the scheme of Danish architect Jørn Utzon was declared the winning entry among 233 submissions. His billowing, sculptural forms of two performance halls and restaurant with a monumental podium and approach captivated the judges.