As one of the 20th century’s most famous and distinctive buildings, the Sydney Opera House has come to symbolize the city in the same manner as other famous statues and icons. However, the limited ways in which residents and visitors can directly engage with the building and space have limited the number of experiences they can have with it. That has prevented it from becoming so much more than an icon for the region.
Products that feature the Sydney Opera House are available for sale all across Sydney, as well as at the opera house itself. These items, as well as businesses that incorporate the icon into their logo or marketing materials, illustrate the kind of indirect economic impact the opera house has enabled for the city. That impact is profound, but it’s not fueling the direct economic opportunities that other monuments have enabled. These monuments embrace the experiences that both residents and tourists can have in order to drive such opportunities, but such experiences are limited at the Sydney Opera House, especially when compared to the experiences that are within eyesight of the opera house.
The Sydney Harbour Bridge allows visitors to engage with the monument by literally climbing onto it while also being able to visit the Kirribilli Market, which is one of Sydney’s oldest and most popular Markets. While direct economic opportunities related to tours, restaurants and private events are present at the Sydney Opera House, they’re incredibly limited, especially compared to the experiences that have been created at other monuments of a similar size and scope.
The Sydney Opera House is an essential part of numerous maps and tourist guides to the city, and the importance of having something so distinct to feature in these kinds of materials cannot be understated. While Sydney features various attractions, the Sydney Opera House is part of practically every map and guide to the city in one way or another, further showcasing the resonance it has already enabled. That established presence underscores the incredible opportunities related to expanded experiences and activities that could see it become more than an incredible piece of architecture.
The opportunities could involve a close look and focus on the history of the area, as the number of cultural references and histories that are displayed are especially limited. While signs that welcome visitors to Gadigal Land, which is the land of the people where the Sydney Opera House stands, the full context of this history is lacking.
Much like other famous opera houses, there is an incredible amount of open and empty space around the Sydney Opera House. This empty space allows visitors to freely move about the space and enjoy the serene surroundings, but it signifies a lack of engagement that other monuments have enabled by using this kind of space in a profound manner.
Like other icons in the nearby vicinity, the Sydney Opera House is not regularly lit up at night, which prevents distinct day and night experiences that other monuments have enabled. Once a year though, that changes in a big way. During the Vivid Sydney event, an artist is commissioned to create an original artwork for projection onto the Sydney Opera House that captures the spirit of the landmark. Given the limitations of this event though, the Sydney Opera House is lacking in such experiences at night far more often than it is enabling them.
Tourists from across the world travel to Sydney to get a picture in front of or near the Sydney Opera House, which showcases the incredible reach and recognition the monument has already established. By enabling experiences that other monuments in Australia and elsewhere have been able to create, the Sydney Opera House could see the impact it has already generated for the city and country taken to a whole new level, which could see it take a spot on lists of monuments that stand up to the test of time.
