The Sydney Opera House [antikvár]

The Sydney Opera House Jam Utzon, the handsome Scandinavian architect, whose brilliant mind created the concept of the Sydney Opera House. He never completed his bold and very beautiful dream. BY PHILLIP MATHEWS 'DNEY'S first opera house was to become one of the wonders of the world, a breathtakingly beautiful focal point for music and theatre in one of the great new world cities of the southern hemisphere; an incomparably elegant modern temple to high culture, soaring above a harbourside site that seemed absolutely appropriate for a metropolis generally more disposed towards lighter pursuits, particularly the great outdoors. Astonishingly different in concept, the Sydney Opera House would push the aesthetics and technology of modern architecture and engineering to new levels, with brilliant original thinking in both disciplines. In fact, it drifted into such uncharted realms of the imagination during construction that it frightened even the faithful. Certainly it demanded great courage, creativity and tenacity of its designers and builders, particularly architect Jörn Utzon and structural engineer Ove Arup. They faced a seemingly endless string of technical hurdles. Not all the hurdles they faced were worthy cerebral challenges. Inevitable delays and spiralling costs had the hounds of the fourth estate salivating; it wasn't long before public enthusiasm for the project began to sour. Construction had obviously passed the point of no return but even the most stubborn defence by its proponents might have failed had the project not attracted such international attention. The natural conflict bet^'een the creativity and