This is the Sydney Opera House.
In this video, I'd like to give you a tour
of what's on the inside and what the building is used for.
This is one of the most well known structures in the world,
so let's check it out.
(electricity zapping)
(loud explosion)
This video is sponsored by brilliant.org.
(soft, quaint music)
The Sydney Opera House is one of those buildings
that's very well known worldwide.
Millions of people come to see it every year.
It is a multi-venue performing arts center.
They have concerts, plays, operas, movies,
and some people even get married here.
It's located in Sydney, Australia.
Let's look at the globe.
Here's the country of Australia,
and this is the state of New South Wales.
And right on the coast is Sydney.
This is where you'll find the Sydney Opera House.
The year 2023 marks the 50th anniversary of the building,
and it's been recently renovated
with numerous improvements to the structure.
This land has a rich history.
For thousands of years,
it's been inhabited by the Gadigal people,
the traditional custodians of the land.
This spot on the harbor used to be a small island.
It goes by a few different names,
but today it's most commonly called Bennelong Point.
In the 1950s, they wanted to build an opera house here,
so they had an international design competition.
More than 200 entries came in from around the globe.
The winner of the competition was Jorn Utzon,
and he had a very unique design for the Opera House.
Construction began in 1959 and took almost 15 years
to complete, much longer than they had planned for.
This was mainly due to budget and lack of planning.
In 1966, disagreements with local government
led to Jorn Utzon actually leaving the project
and going back home which was all the way back here
in the country of Denmark.
The project was completed in 1973,
and unfortunately, Utzon was never able to return
to see the finished building.
A bit of a sad story, however,
the Sydney Opera House would look very different
if it weren't for him.
The building is made up of sails, sometimes called shells.
It almost looks like a large boat floating on the harbor.
The sails were difficult to construct.
The story goes that Utzon decided to construct them
from pieces of the same sphere.
This would make manufacturing easier and save on costs.
Each sail is made up of pieces
that are covered with ceramic tiles.
There are more than one million of these tiles.
Sometimes during celebrations there are colorful displays
projected onto the sides of the sails.
Let's take a look at the surrounding landscape.
This is the Sydney Harbour,
which is also part of Port Jackson.
And this is the Sydney Harbour Bridge,
also a famous site to see.
These waters will have plenty of boats
entering and leaving Circular Quay.
Right next to the Opera House
underneath the water is the Sydney Harbour Tunnel.
This gives another way to cross the waters
in addition to the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
There is also a large underground car park
that can hold over 1000 vehicles.
This is usually where you'll park your car
if you decide to drive to the Sydney Opera House.
The Opera House has a special underground entrance.
Large deliveries will be taken down here.
This is called the Loading Dock.
Some areas around the building,
this is the Western Broadwalk and the Northern Broadwalk.
It's not as big,
but there is also an Eastern Broadwalk as well.
This means you can walk all the way
around the building if you want.
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The area in front is called the Forecourt.
The main steps leading up to the building
are called the Monumental Steps.
During warmer parts of the year,
these outdoor areas will also host many events and concerts.
Underneath here is Portside Sydney.
This is an outside restaurant
with views straight out onto the harbor.
This area here is called the Opera Bar.
Place to eat, hang out,
and enjoy amazing views of the harbor.
The stairways lead down below ground,
and you can see there's also an indoor portion to the bar.
Coming down the line is the smaller restaurant
called the House Canteen.
This area is called the Lower Concourse.
If you take a tour of the Opera House,
this is usually where it starts.
This is the Welcome Centre where you can buy tickets
or pick up a gift to remember your trip.
The escalators will take you up to the Covered Concourse.
But first, let's take a step back here.
The Sydney Opera House is made up
of three separate structures:
the Concert Hall, the Joan Sutherland Theatre,
and the Bennelong Restaurant.
Let's first look inside the Bennelong Restaurant.
This is a great place to eat before or after a show.
It has some of the best dining you can find
in Sydney, Australia.
Normally, you come into the restaurant
through this entryway.
We'll see how you get here later in the video.
The Concert Hall is the largest venue.
The Concert Hall can fit up to 2,664 people.
It has hosted famous international performers
from around the world.
In the very back, you can see the Grand Organ
which has over 10,000 pipes.
This is the largest mechanical action organ in the world.
Hanging above the stage are the pink Acoustic Reflectors.
This was part of the recent renovations to the Concert Hall.
This improves the sound by helping it bounce
back to the stage and to the audience.
So that's the Concert Hall, the biggest venue.
The other one over here is the Joan Sutherland Theatre,
formerly known as the Opera Theatre.
The Joan Sutherland Theatre can fit up to 1,507 seats.
The stage houses events such as operas, plays and concerts.
The Orchestra Pit is down here,
and this is the Stage.
In the back, there is also a giant Stage Lift
for getting props up to this level.
It appears to be three separate buildings,
but they are of course connected underneath.
There's a couple of different ways to get inside.
You can go up the Monumental Steps
and in through these doors here,
or you can go underneath here.
This is called the Covered Concourse.
Earlier in the video we looked at the Lower Concourse,
so if you're down here, then you can take the escalators
up to the Covered Concourse.
Then from here, you can find your way inside.
This door is called the Stage Door.
I imagine you have to be very important
to enter through here.
For the rest of us,
you'll want to use one of these entrances.
There will usually be security checkpoints
before entering the building.
This is the Box Office Foyer.
You can hang out in the lounge here,
or you can make your way to the Bennelong Restaurant here,
entering the restaurant through these stairs.
Here's the Box Office to buy your tickets,
the Gift Shop.
and this is the Utzon Room, which was named after Jorn Utzon
who we saw earlier in this video.
This room can be used for smaller concerts or gatherings.
The room can fit up to 200 people inside.
From the Box Office Foyer,
you can enter either of the two largest venues.
Let's start with the Concert Hall.
This is the Concert Hall Southern Foyer.
You can buy a snack or a drink here
and make your way around either side to find your seats.
At the other side is the Concert Hall Northern Foyer.
Many fancy events have been hosted here.
If you make your way down the stairs,
there is also a fancy bar underneath.
Now getting into the Joan Sutherland Theatre
is very similar.
Up the stairs or escalator into the Southern Foyer,
there's walkways around either side to get to your seats.
And there's another Northern Foyer here as well.
It's just a little bit smaller
than the one in the Concert Hall.
There's a lift or elevator here
to allow access to each level.
(bell dings)
And another bar at the bottom.
Now, I haven't shown this with animation,
but I do wanna mention that the Sydney Opera House
has gone to great lengths to ensure
that the building is very accessible.
There are plenty of lifts for those in wheelchairs
or those who can't take the stairs.
The Sydney Opera House also has
a lot more smaller venues inside.
Let's first look underneath the Concert Hall.
This is called the Western Foyer.
There are doors here, but to enter,
you'll have to go underneath the Covered Concourse.
Remember, we got into the Box Office Foyer
from one of these entrances, but if you go through this door
you'll come into the Western Foyer.
So we have three smaller venues here:
the Drama Theatre, Studio, and Playhouse.
The Drama Theatre can hold up to 544 seats,
the perfect venue for smaller plays or gatherings.
This is the Studio,
which has very flexible seating arrangements.
It can fit a maximum of 600 people inside.
The Playhouse has seating for 398 people.
There's another room here on the north end
called the Centre for Creativity.
It is a space for kids and families to learn more
and have hands-on creative experiences.
This opened in the year 2022.
There's one more venue right below
the Joan Sutherland Theatre.
These are known as the Yallamundi Rooms,
perfect for private gatherings of up to 400 people.
The word Yallamundi means storyteller
which again pays tribute to the Gadigal people.
There's obviously more rooms in the building
that aren't generally for the public,
plenty of offices, rehearsal and backstage rooms,
and places for maintenance. (soft, quaint music)
So if you ever find yourself in Sydney, Australia,
come see this beautiful building for yourself.
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