Own Our House

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Lots of people have done it, often at their kid's school --bought a brick and etched their name. A lasting testament to their time there.

Now you can sort of do the same thing with the Sydney Opera House.

People are invited to buy a tile and to personalise it with a photo and a short message.

But there is an important and most charming gimmick to it.

It is really only virtual technology which allows you to see where your tile will be placed and what kind of view it has over Sydney Harbour. You can then share that information through Social Media.



In a city obsessed with real estate, especially anything with a even a smidge of a view of the harbour, then this should have lots of people scurrying to buy.

The tiles come in Snow (matt- covered) and Ice (shiny) finishes. Ice tiles are offered for $100 and the rarer Snow tiles for $400. And there are a heck of a lot of tiles. The Opera House's tallest sail, known as A2 has more than 125,000 of them.

The tile owners are collectively called housemates which is the idea of an Australian icon being owned by its people.

It all has to do with the Opera House's 40th Anniversary celebrations in October and the beginning of a decade of renewal for this iconic feat of Australian construction.

It is about expressing our love for this national treasure which has a World Heritage listing.

The tiles are in fact virtual. What you are really doing is donating money towards the refurbishment of the Opera House plus chipping in to increase public access to free events.

A number of high profile stars have been leading the brigade of tile owners including Hugh Jackman, Jack Thompson, Josh Pyke, Delta Goodrem, Matt Moran, Glen Hansard and The Frames, Martha Wainwright and Diesel.



The virtual Opera House was made possible through ground-breaking laser-mapping technology. Tiles are available to purchase online at here or through tablets available in the Box Office Foyer.



#architecture
#charity
#community_events
#family
#city
%wnsydney