<P> Utzon received the Pritzker Architecture Prize, architecture's highest honour, in 2003 . The Pritzker Prize citation read: </P> <P> There is no doubt that the Sydney Opera House is his masterpiece . It is one of the great iconic buildings of the 20th century, an image of great beauty that has become known throughout the world--a symbol for not only a city, but a whole country and continent . </P> <P> The Fort Macquarie Tram Depot, occupying the site at the time of these plans, was demolished in 1958 and construction began in March 1959 . It was built in three stages: stage I (1959--1963) consisted of building the upper podium; stage II (1963--1967) the construction of the outer shells; stage III (1967--1973) interior design and construction . </P> <P> Stage I commenced on 2 March 1959 with the construction firm Civil & Civic, monitored by the engineers Ove Arup and Partners . The government had pushed for work to begin early, fearing that funding, or public opinion, might turn against them . However, Utzon had still not completed the final designs . Major structural issues still remained unresolved . By 23 January 1961, work was running 47 weeks behind, mainly because of unexpected difficulties (inclement weather, unexpected difficulty diverting stormwater, construction beginning before proper construction drawings had been prepared, changes of original contract documents). Work on the podium was finally completed in February 1963 . The forced early start led to significant later problems, not least of which was the fact that the podium columns were not strong enough to support the roof structure, and had to be re-built . </P>

When was the sydney opera house built and how long did it take
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