Though Utzon never returned to see his completed design in person, he did receive his long overdue comeuppance. Each year, the building-that-almost-never-was adds more than $700 million in tourism. In fact, seven years before the building’s completion, Utzon packed his bags and left the job and the country.Ī group of auxiliary architects stepped in to take his place and with a lot of hand-wringing and a little bit of luck, by 1973 construction had wrapped on the Opera House.īut sometimes the end justifies the means and as luck would have it, the Opera House went on to become an international landmark. An estimated $7 million construction cost ballooned to more than $100 million – a 1400% cost blowout that still stands as the largest in history.Ĭontractor mismanagement, infrastructure disasters and government cover-ups all but ruined the career of Utzon for good. The construction of the Opera House was riddled with problems. It was this standout building proposal that won Danish architect Jorn Utzon New South Wales’ competition in 1957 to design a public space to be constructed on the Harbour. The white, shell-like wings sprout in to the sky from its personal peninsula on Sydney Harbour. The stark-white, scalloped building is unmistakable.

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Sydney opera house fun facts