Opera House Roof Tiles

Principal curator matthew connell explores the ideas behind the creation of sydney s most famous building.

Opera house roof tiles. So once again the unassuming tile bestows magnificence and grandeur on a building. Sydney opera house was opened by queen elizabeth ii on 20th october 1973. Sydney opera house model. Sydney opera house was added to unesco s world heritage list in 2007 there are more than 1 million roof tiles covering approximately 1 62 hectares sitting over the structure.

The sydney opera house is a multi venue performing arts centre at sydney harbour in sydney new south wales australia it is one of the 20th century s most famous and distinctive buildings. Joe bertony the engineer who invented the sydney opera house erection arch which made the building of sydney s most famous white sails possible has died at his hornsby home at the age of 97. As one of the more popular myths has it utzon had a eureka moment while peeling an orange. Its soaring roofs are meant to evoke the sails of the ships that brought many of australia s original settlers to.

On monday 125 000 of the sydney opera house s 1 056 006 tiles go on. Once the podiums of the opera house were defined the overwhelming problem of the shape of the roof arose. The tiles supporting lidswith their fixing brackets. Without the tiles the opera house would simply be nowhere near as distinctive or impressive.

The riddle of the shells. This is an extract from the publication icons which can be purchased online. Utzon s initial sketches showed these as relatively squat free form concrete sail shapes which were to be covered with white tiles. The sydney opera house on the shores of sydney harbor in australia is a third.

Timber illustrates the origin of the roof geometry of the sydney opera house designed by jørn utzon made by ove arup and partners england australia 1961 65. They are the 12 centimetre by 12 centimetre ceramic squares that in their own small way embody the ambitions of a nation. And the finishing tiles. The nature of this challenge was to ensurethe watertightness of the joints between the various components thatformed the roof system.

The structural rib segments. Designed by danish architect jørn utzon but completed by an australian architectural team headed up by peter hall the building was formally opened on 20 october 1973 after a gestation beginning with. But the shapes didn t work. The connection detail between the elements of the sydney opera house roof was a complex design challenge.

Seven a380s could sit wing to wing on the site.