The broken promise of the Sydney Opera House, its botched design and $150m fix

The landmark’s concert hall closes on Saturday for a two-year renovation. It has been plagued by compromises since architect Jørn Utzon’s walkout in 1966

Significant buildings generate their own mythology. For the Sydney Opera House, the story that the Unesco world heritage-listed design was fished out of a rejection pile before being declared a work of genius is a pleasing fable, despite its dubious origins.

What is not in dispute is that the clashes that plagued the Opera House’s origins have reverberated – not always pleasingly – down the decades. The ambition of the Danish architect Jørn Utzon’s design, his walkout mid-project, and Peter Hall’s subsequent takeover in 1966 resulted in compromises that have bedevilled the building ever since.

Continue reading...

from World news | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2uGmkYy