Opera house vs White House

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The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts Center at Sydney Harbour in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

It is among the 20th century's most famous and distinctive buildings.Designed by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, but completed by an Australian architectural group headed up by Peter Hall, the building was officially opened on 20 October 1973 after a gestation beginning with Utzon's 1957 choice as winner of an international design competition. The Government of New South Wales, led by the premier, Joseph Cahill, authorised work to start in 1958 with Utzon directing construction. The government's decision to construct Utzon's design is often overshadowed by conditions that followed, including cost and scheduling overruns as well as the architect's ultimate resignation.The building and its surrounds occupy all of Bennelong Point on Sydney Harbour, between Sydney Cove and Farm Cove, adjacent to the Sydney central business district and the Royal Botanic Gardens, and close by the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The construction comprises multiple performance venues, which together host well over 1,500 performances annually, attended by over 1.



2 million people. Performances are presented by numerous performing artists, including three resident companies: Opera Australia, the Sydney Theatre Company and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. As one of the most popular visitor attractions in Australia, the website is visited by over eight million people annually, and approximately 350,000 visitors take a guided tour of the building each year. The building is managed by the Sydney Opera House Trust, an agency of the New South Wales State Government. On 28 June 2007, the Sydney Opera House became a UNESCO World Heritage Site, having been listed on the (now defunct) Register of the National Estate since 1980, the National Trust of Australia register since 1983, the City of Sydney Heritage Inventory since 2000, the New South Wales State Heritage Register since 2003, and the Australian National Heritage List as 2005. Moreover, the Opera House was a finalist at the New7Wonders of Earth campaign list.

Source: Wikipedia

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The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States.

It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the home of each U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. The term 'White House' is often used as a metonym for the president and his advisers. The home was designed by Irish-born architect James Hoban in the neoclassical style. Hoban modelled the construction on Leinster House in Dublin, a building which houses the Oireachtas, the Irish legislature. Construction took place between 1792 and 1800 using Aquia Creek sandstone painted white. When Thomas Jefferson moved into the home in 1801, he (with architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe) added reduced colonnades on each wing which concealed stables and storage. In 1814, during the War of 1812, the mansion had been set ablaze by the British Army in the Burning of Washington, destroying the interior and charring a lot of the exterior. Reconstruction began almost immediately, and President James Monroe moved into the partially rebuilt Executive Residence in October 1817. Exterior building continued with the inclusion of the semi-circular South portico in 1824 and the North portico in 1829. Because of crowding inside the executive order , President Theodore Roosevelt had work offices relocated to the newly constructed West Wing in 1901. Eight years later in 1909, President William Howard Taft enlarged the West Wing and created the first Oval Office, which was finally moved as the section was expanded. In the main mansion, the third-floor attic was converted into living quarters in 1927 by augmenting the present hip roof with long shed dormers. A newly constructed East Wing was used as a reception area for social occasions; Jefferson's colonnades connected the new wings. East Wing alterations were completed in 1946, creating additional office space. By 1948, the residence's load-bearing exterior walls and internal wood beams were found to be close to collapse. Under Harry S. Truman, the interior chambers were completely dismantled and a new internal load-bearing steel frame constructed within the walls. Once this work was completed, the interior rooms were rebuilt. The modern-day White House complex involves the Executive Residence, West Wing, East Wing, the Eisenhower Executive Office Building--the former State Department, which now houses offices for the president's staff and the vice president--and Blair House, a guest residence. The Executive Residence is made up of six stories--the Ground Floor, State Floor, Second Floor, and Third Floor, as well as a two-story basement. The property is a National Heritage Site owned by the National Park Service and is part of the President's Park. In 2007, it was ranked second on the American Institute of Architects list of'America's Favorite Architecture'.

Source: Wikipedia