Sydney Opera House

Passing by the Royal Botanic Garden, we walked along the coffee shops in the rocky area along the coast, and walked up from an ancient city wall to the Sydney Harbour Bridge that connects the north and south areas of Sydney. This is a great place to overlook the Sydney Opera House. Walking on this steel bridge, we smiled at the locals who were running towards us, waiting for the arrival of the sunset. On the north bank of the bridge, Kirribilli faces the Opera House and is a famous wealthy area. The word "Kirribilli" comes from the indigenous language and means "a good place for fishing". Looking at the opera house from a slightly different angle, it resembles a pair of big eyes, presenting a completely different visual effect. Although the bridge is equipped with a mesh fence, you can still stick your camera out of the holes to capture unobstructed views. Speaking of the most famous landmark building in Sydney and even the whole of Australia, we have to mention its designer - Danish architect Jørn Utzon. In 1957, when the Sydney Opera House was soliciting design proposals, the 38-year-old Utzon was still unknown in the architectural world, but his shell-inspired design was immediately recognized by one of the judges, modernist architecture master Eliel Saarinen, who strongly recommended it. It stood out from the works of more than 200 contestants from over 30 countries and was adopted. The excited Utzon, as the chief architect of the Opera House, moved to Sydney with his family and planned to settle in Australia for a long time. The good times didn't last long. With the rise of the United Party, David Hughes, the Minister of Public Works in New South Wales, began to tighten spending. There was a budget shortfall in the construction of the opera house, and the Australian authorities demanded that Utzon modify the design, and even stopped paying his salary for a while, which ultimately led to a falling out between the two sides. In 1966, a disappointed Utzon left Australia with his family and vowed never to set foot on this land that had hurt him so much. At that time, only part of the exterior wall of the opera house had been completed. After Utzon left, a local team took over his work, and fortunately, the successor designer tried his best to uphold Utzon's design concept, so that it did not become a patchwork. The avant-garde design of the opera house took a full 17 years to complete, instead of the originally planned 4 years, and the cost soared from the budgeted 7 million US dollars to 120 million US dollars. After its completion, the building caused a huge sensation, receiving overwhelming praise and recognition from around the world. Its "shape resembling a pure white seashell, like a sail out to sea" has become a source of pride for Australians. In 2003, the Nobel Prize of architecture, the Pritzker Architecture Prize, was awarded to the 85-year-old Utzon, in recognition of his creation of one of the "iconic buildings of the 20th century," the Sydney Opera House. On April 9, 2008, all staff members of the Sydney Opera House celebrated Utzon's 90th birthday from afar in Denmark, and invited him to visit the Opera House in Sydney, but Utzon declined due to poor health. This was his last refusal of an invitation from Australia. Seven months later, he passed away, never having returned to Australia to see the completed work that had earned him worldwide acclaim. It is truly regrettable. Walking under these arched "shells" is the only way to truly feel their enormity. Compared to daytime, I prefer the opera house at night, where colorful lights create a visual feast on the dome. During this season, at sunset and 7pm every day, the roof of the "Little Shell" in the lobby will showcase the works of indigenous artist Lin Onus in the form of a light show called "Badu Gili", and there will be a fireworks display before the light show starts.