Sydney Opera House

The brainchild of brilliant Danish designer Jørn Utzon, the Sydney Opera House has come to represent a city, as well as a nation. Technically an entire continent.

Utzon's unconventional design for the complex won an international competition in 1957, although it wasn’t finished and formally opened to the public until 1973. The structure's unique shape--or more accurately, shapes--are like no other building in the world. The dominant forms, the shells that appear to be nesting into each other, are intended to simulate the billowing silk of tall sailing ships in the wind; a fitting visual considering its location on Sydney Harbor.

As far as aesthetic beauty goes, this is one of the most attractive, unique, and thus memorable structures in the world. When UNESCO made it a World heritage site in 2007, the opera house was called a "masterpiece of human creativity" and "an enduring influence on the emerging architecture of the late 20th century."

Inside are six main performance venues, plus an open-air Forecourt, and other smaller foyers used for more intimate events. The two largest venues are the Concert Hall and the Joan Sutherland Theater. The Concert Hall houses the world’s largest mechanical tracker-action organ, whatever that means, with more than 10,000 pipes.

We highly recommend that you take in a show while you’re there. Scheduled events run year-round, with more than 1,600 concerts, ballets, operas, and dramas are conducted. Avoid being late though, once a performance has started you may not be permitted entry.