More than just an Opera House

The Sydney Opera House is an iconic landmark.  

Built on land originally known as Tubowgule, a gathering place for locale indigenous people, the Opera House is based on a design by John Utzon, a Finnish architect. While Utzon designed and over saw construction of the exterior shell, Peter Hall, an Australian architect completed the interior. 

The Opera House is actually three connected buildings: the smaller Studio, the Joan Sutherland Theatre and the Concert Hall.


Ingeniously designed based on a sphere, the three buildings were constructed of reinforced cement and covered in durable tile. The Opera House provides views of the harbour via specially designed polarized glass in steel frames. The result is breathtaking. 






Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The MS Fridtjof Nansen

Image
 This is our home away from home for the next ten days.  To our delight, we were upgraded to a corner suite, with or own hot tub!  Less exciting, we are expecting the Drake Shake for our passage, so everything is tied down . Hoping to enjoy these amenities when we are in calmer waters around Antarctica.
Read more

Portal Point

Image
Portal Point, once the site of the Cape Reclus Refuge - a hut used by explorers established in the 1950’s- was the site of our only continental Antarctic landing. Mushy snow and 3C temperatures quickly brought memories of early spring at home. However, the snow covered barren land reminded us of our true location. The vistas were breathtaking.  We took a  moment to savour this occasion. 
Read more

A Night to Remember

Image
 In life, there are events and activities that you will never forget. The night of January 23 into 24 is one of those nights.  We cruised on a zodiac with about 50 fellow guests and guides to Leith Cove, a sheltered island designated for Antarctic camping.  While the penguins watched We dragged our gear to the camping area And proceeded to set up our tent. We were provided with a foam mat and inflatable mat to keep us off the ice, and sleeping bag each. The accommodations barely kept us warm during the windy Antarctic night, so we slept fully clothed with double socks, mittens and toque. During summer here the day lasts 24 hours, which is not conducive to sleep, so by 0430, we were happy to roll out of our tent, pack up and await a zodiac to return us to the ship. In case you were wondering, the guides, Elliot, Emily and Raphael set up a porta-potty with makeshift walls for privacy. A flag system was used to indicate if the potty was in use, but really you could easily se...
Read more