188 – Sydney Opera House – Jorn Utzon – Ove Arup
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Can you imagine Sydney Harbour without the Opera House? Well, without 10 years of delays and $90 million in cost overruns the bridge might have been the only feature in the skyline. Join Shawn and Mark for a discussion on podiums, persistence and politics.
Welcome back to a new Anecdotally Speaking episode.
For your story bank
Tags: persistence, innovation, politics, Sydney Opera House
This story starts at 3:45
Try and picture Sydney Harbour without the Opera House – it very nearly happened
NSW state government created a design competition for the building at Bennelong Point in 1955
Won by Danish architect Jorn Utzon in 1957 who teamed up with Ove Arup for construction
Design won Pritzker design award – the Oscars of architectural design
Time line for construction was originally 4 years for opening on Australia Day in 1963
Trouble started when the podium (foundation platform) was poorly built, and had to be destroyed/rebuilt
Architect blamed, Jorn eventually leaving Australia with family in disgrace, and never to return…
Compared to Ove who stayed – Arup constructions to this day
Opened in 1973 – 10 years late and 1500% over budget ($7 million to $102 million)
But hey, imagine the harbour without it!
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