A Collection of my Essays and Narratives
3 min read

The Sydney Opera House

The floating white palace
The Sydney Opera House

By the Sydney Opera House docent,

Ein Shin


Half a century ago, Queen Elizabeth II marched up to the lustrous steps of the Sydney Opera House and formally opened it under the heavy showers. It was a building well ahead of its time, challenging the limits of engineering and construction: a magnificent sight it is. The starry night and heavenly bodies illuminate the white marvel. The Sydney Opera House is undoubtedly sophisticated. It is a wonder how Jorn Utzon can imagine such a thing.

The view from the Sydney Opera House is undoubtedly spectacular!


In 1956, Jorn Utzon’s design dominated a competition regarding the layout of the Sydney Opera House. When it was complete, morning dews would have dropped from the leaf shaped roofs, drip-dripping down in slow motion, glistening and hauntingly beautiful. Things were looking great for Utzon as construction began. That is until ties between Utzon and the NSW Government fell apart.


Budget issues were becoming alarmingly worse, leading to hesitation of supplying required resources and funds. Additionally, the engineers - part of the Arup company - were questioning his plans for the structure. In protest, Jorn Utzon left Australia: his original plans evaporated with him. The only plausible option to save the Sydney Opera House was to betray Utzon’s plan and devise a new one. The year 1967 saw the last shell of the Sydney Opera House being completed. It was finally ready for the public in 1973 after 14 years of dissonance. The current Sydney Opera House was born.


The Sydney Opera House is undoubtedly colossal - with the highest point tall as 22 stories - and its range of interesting facts are also vast. Seven years after the Opera House was opened, an opera called Boris Godunov featured some live chickens. A featured hen decided a cellist’s head was the perfect spot to nest although we can assume the cellist strongly disagrees with the hen. Therefore, the Joan Sutherland Theatre now carries a net over the orchestra preventing any hazards from falling into it. The Sydney Opera House also boasts the world’s largest mechanical Grand Organ, featuring 10,244 pipes, all hand cleaned: impossible, isn’t it? On top of that, the Sydney Opera House leverages cold water through pipes to power the heating and air conditioning: partially sustainable.

It was very exciting for us to see the orchestra in live!
Inside the foyer of the Concert Hall to see a very special concert for kids!


The floating brobdingnagian sailing boat has one such rare history. The Opera House was almost neglected, never to be seen again after years of political debate. Nowadays, the Sydney Opera House is home to over 2000 performances and over 10 million people are thunderstruck as they glide across the halls every year. Surely, the Sydney Opera House never fails to amaze people everyday. It is guaranteed you are going to faint in the glorious sight of it.

Behold, the glory of music...