The Sydney Opera House celebrated its 50th birthday on Friday (20/10) with a spectacular laser show that lit up the iconic building.
The Opera House was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II on October 20, 1973, and is widely regarded as one of the greatest architectural projects of the 20th century, with 10.9 million people visiting it every year, according to Reuters.
The building was illuminated with a spectacular laser show created by Australian audiovisual artist Robin Fox, the day before it welcomed the 37,000 people who signed up for free tours on Saturday, the first day it opened in eight years.
The 1956 international design competition for the Opera House saw 233 designs submitted by architects from around the world with the winner being Jorn Utzon from Denmark.
Construction began in 1959 with the project scheduled to take four years, but after Utzon resigned due to a change of government, design differences, and skyrocketing costs, construction took 14 years to complete. The Sydney Opera House was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2007.