The Sydney Opera House

It's actually two houses, side by side, as you can tell from this picture from the previous post. The larger one is used for symphony concerts; the smaller one, for opera.

The white shells of both are made of concrete ribs covered, on the outside, with tiles:


The actual performance halls, done up in Scandinavian-style modern wood (the original architect was Danish), sort of float inside the shells:


Both ends of the shells contain lounge/bar areas with lots of natural light:


And here's the inside of the concert hall, which has 360-degree seating around the stage:


They wouldn't let us take pictures inside the opera hall because workers were setting up for a performance, but it is arranged traditionally, with boxe and rows of seats facing a stage at one end.

A really small stage.

Really REALLY small.

I wish I could have taken a picture of it, but let's just say that if you're used to the Met, or the Opera Garnier, or the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, or most of the major houses in Italy, you'll be shocked at how small it is.

But then again, Sydney isn't really known for its opera company.

Just the opera house, which suffered from huge delays and cost overruns, but was worth every penny nonetheless.