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The Fifth Facade: Like a walnut shell
Title:
The Fifth Facade: Like a walnut shell
NFSA ID
47027
Year
1971
An excerpt from the Film Australia Collection's The Fifth Facade. The title is a reference to the roof, which is the building’s most distinctive feature. Architect Jørn Utzon says in voice-over:
I saw it as a building which people will sail around. There are ferries sailing past and large ships coming in. The big harbour is just outside and the large bridge nearby. So people will see it as a round thing. Therefore instead of making it a square box I have made a sculpture, but a sculpture covering the necessary functions in the same way as a walnut shell covers the kernel.
An excerpt from the Film Australia collection's The Fifth Facade, 1971, Film Australia Collection © NFSA.
Notes by Beth Taylor
Stream The Fifth Facade on NFSA Player
The Sydney Opera House is one of the most identifiable of Australia’s icons and is considered by many to be among the great architectural masterpieces. Its entire construction period was recorded on film.
The Fifth Facade documents the history of this striking and imaginative building, from the selection of the site at Bennelong Point to the official opening.
The commentary of Jørn Utzon, the Danish architect who won the worldwide competition for the original building design, offers insights into the unique structural and aesthetic problems that had to be solved to make his vision a reality.
On 20 October 1973, the Sydney Opera House was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II. From conception to completion, it had taken more than 15 years and over $100 million.
Producer
Anthony Buckley
Director
Donald Crombie
Writers
Keith Gow, Peter Weir and Donald Crombie
Narration
Sam Wanamaker and Jørn Utzon
Jørn Utzon voice-over: I saw it as a building which people will sail around. There are ferries sailing past and large ships coming in. The big harbour is just outside and the large bridge nearby. So people will see it as a round thing. Therefore instead of making it a square box I have made a sculpture, but a sculpture covering the necessary functions in the same way as a walnut shell covers the kernel.
The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia acknowledges Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we work and live and gives respect to their Elders both past and present.