In 1956 an international design competition was held for the Sydney Opera House. From the 233 submitted entries, representing architects from 32 countries, the Danish architect Jørn Utzon was announced the winner receiving 5,000 Australian pounds for his design. Legend has it that Utzon’s design was rescued by Finnish-American architect and designer Eero Saarinen from a pile of rejected entries.

The construction was expected to take four years and cost $7 million. Instead it took 14 years, involving 10,000 construction workers and ended up costing a then whopping $102 million. It finally opened it’s doors to the public on 20 October 1973.

The building comprises multiple performance venues, which together host well over 1,500 performances annually (on a regular year) and is visited by more than 1.2 million people. As one of the most popular visitor attractions in Australia, the site is visited by more than 10.9 million people annually.