National Award for Enduring Architecture

″The 25 Year Award acknowledges the Sydney Opera House as an exemplar of the great contribution that architecture can make to a city and a nation.

The grandeur, elegance and scale of the building restored the concept of the 'monument' as a socially acceptable expression in an age of neutral functionalism and, over time, and it has re-established the fundamental role of great architecture and public places in the making of contemporary Australian cities.

The building is also a reminder that the visions, timeframes and budgets of a particular historical moment cannot easily comprehend the ongoing significance of major individual public projects, or their ultimate commercial and social value to a city.

Now more than 25 years after its completion, the Opera House is undergoing agreed modifications following a thoughtful and consultative process involving Jørn Utzon.

With the assistance of the architectural profession, and the RAIA, and through the co-operation of the NSW Government and the Federal Government, it is hoped that the Sydney Opera House will be officially nominated for World Heritage Listing in 2004.″ — AIA National Jury Citation, 2003[4] The move to recognition followed a long period of reconciliation with Utzon and plans for new work and restoration of the Opera House.