Sydney Opera House & Harbour Bridge (Bennelong Point, Australia)

Why was it built that way? Jutting out into Sydney Harbour on the Bennelong Point peninsula surrounded by water on three sides, the Sydney Opera House posed a 6-year structural riddle until Jørn Utzon discovered in 1961 that all 14 sculptural roof shells could be sliced from a single geometric sphere with a radius of 75.2 meters. Engineered with Ove Arup using 2,194 precast concrete rib segments post-tensioned together atop a massive granite podium, the shells are surfaced with 1,056,006 self-cleaning glossy and matte Swedish ceramic tiles.

The unbroken Feng Shui thread: In macro-landform Feng Shui, the ridge descending from the Royal Botanic Garden onto Bennelong Point forms a classic 'Dragon Head Entering the Sea' (Long Tou Ru Hai) right where the harbour currents converge (Water Mouth Junction). However, an exposed headland surrounded by open water is vulnerable to violent coastal gales and wave impact (Wind Sha & Water Clash). By anchoring the theatres inside a solid granite podium (Black Tortoise Carapace) and crowning them with 14 convex spherical shells, coastal gales glide smoothly over the curved roofs without destructive uplift, evoking 'A White Crane Spreading Its Wings' and 'Lotus Blossoms Rising from Water'. Crucially, the massive steel arch of the Sydney Harbour Bridge spanning the narrows right beside it serves as the Locking Star (Luo Xing) guarding the Water Mouth, retaining prosperous harbour Qi for the entire Sydney basin.