2. History of the House
(number & operations)
The Sydney Opera House
project took 19 years in total.
In 1954, a committee was set
up with the main goal of
creating the House. Danish
architect Jorn Utzon’s design
was chosen as the framework
for the building in 1957. The
construction began in 1959 but
was delayed on multiple
occasions due to unrealistic
plans and costs. The first
performance didn’t occur until
September 28, 1973 with the
production of War and Peace
and the building was officially
opened by Queen Elizabeth II
on October 20th of that year.
3. Cost Concerns
(data analysis & probability)
One of the first steps in
creating the opera house
was setting up an appeal
fund to raise money. It
was expected that the
building would cost $AU 7
million. The initial fund
raised only 12% of that
reaching $AU 900,000.
The Opera House
Lotteries were set up as
an attempt to raise the
remaining money. The
House ended up costing
$AU 102 million, which
profits from the lottery
were able to cover. The
state’s government covers
30% of the costs a year to
maintain the building.
4. Size
(measurement)
The Sydney Opera House is 185 meters
(606 ft. 11 in.) long. It is 120 meters (393 ft.
8 in.) wide.
5. Design
(geometry)
The structure of the Sydney Opera House is that of beautiful and
advanced architecture and technology. The shapes involved in creating it
include a rectangular base. The well-designed sails are created from
spheres but have been restructured to include obtuse and acute angles
and create a look of a dozen isosceles triangles.
6. Seating Selections
(number & operations)
There are 100
different rooms in the
House, including the
main 5
venues, which seat a
total of 5, 532
people. The Concert
Hall holds 2,679, the
Opera Theatre holds
1,547, the Drama
Theatre holds
544, the Playhouse
holds 398, and the
Studio holds 364
people.
7. Ticket Pricing
(algebra)
In 2008, the average
ticket price for a
show at the House
was $AU 76.60. The
profit made for these
tickets for the year
was a total of $AU
1,061,273,304. This
means that
15,823,705 total
tickets were sold that
year.
8. Utzon’s Room
(measurement)
Utzon’s legacy was not forgotten after the Opera
House was built. The smallest and one of the
newest rooms in the House is dedicated solely to
him. On one wall contains a 14 meter (45 ft. 11
in.) long beautifully colored tapestry, which is
Utzon’s first decorative artwork.
9. The Concert Hall
(geometry)
One of the things the
Opera House is
known for the most
is the acoustics of
their largest hall. The
total volume of the
room is 26,400 cubic
meters (880,000
cubic feet). The
room includes 18
adjustable acoustic
acrylic rings
suspended above
the stage, which
assist the sound
quality of the music.
10. Sydney Oprah
(data analysis & probability)
In 2010, Australian tourism programs created a plan to target
the traveling American middle class through the use of icon
Oprah. She brought herself and 300 lucky American winners
to Australia to travel to various locations. Two of her talk
shows were taped at the Sydney Opera House. It was
expected she would bring in approximately $47 million in
tourism revenue. They would reveal top sites for vacationing
in hopes of generating plans of future trips by American
families.
11. Attendance
(number & operations)
The Opera House has a total of
approximately 2,200,000 paying visitors a
year. 200,000 of those individuals receive
guided tours. 2,000,000 of them attend one of
the 3000 shows shown throughout the year.
12. Top Ten
(data analysis & probability)
As of September of
this year, the
Sydney Opera
House was the 10th
most photographed
building in the
world based on the
largest online
photo
resource, Alamy
website.
13. My Australia
(number & operations)
This year, I spent a total of
10 days in
Sydney, Australia. Of
those 10 days, I went to
the Opera House a total of
6 days. This means I
spent 1.64% of my year at
the Sydney Opera House.
