Opera House Controversy

It’s impossible now to imagine Sydney without its white-sailed Opera House floating above the Harbour. But back in 1957, the winning design by Danish architect Jørn Utzon seemed outlandish.  

This Cinesound Review newsreel shows how revolutionary Utzon’s creation was. Black-and-white footage and the very proper gloves and millinery of the ladies viewing the entries in the design competition evoke an era that was a long way from the uproarious ’60s. The also-rans are sometimes beautiful, and largely conventional. Utzon’s winning entry, with the streamlined elegance of an all-white opera house reflected in the water, seems like an exotic bird among sparrows; it set off what the newsreel describes as a ‘storm of controversy’ between its detractors and defenders. We can only be glad that Utzon’s vision caught the fancy of the judges.  

Sydney Opera House opened on 20 October 1973 after a lengthy construction (largely paid for by a state lottery) and amply justified the promise of its design.