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Cardiff Bay Opera HouseCardiff Bay Opera House, ill-fated project to build a worthy home for the renowned Welsh National Opera. The Opera House was conceived as a crucial part of the Cardiff Bay redevelopment project. It was also hoped to give a home to the Welsh National Opera company, who were based in Cardiff's small and unsuitable New Theatre. An international design competition was held in 1994 which was won by Iraq-born architect Zaha Hadid. At this point the project decended into chaos. It lacked support from either South Glamorgan County Council or Cardiff City Council and was savaged by the media as being "elitist". The Millennium Commission, which gave funding to such projects from the UK National Lottery, refused to fund the project as it considered it to be finacially risky. This was not helped by the successful application for funding for the Millennium Stadium, just a few miles away. Eventually, the project collapsed. This was a seminal moment in Welsh history. It was devastating for Wales' international image, with "Cardiff Bay" becoming a euphemism in architectural and cultural circles for narrow-mindedness, provincial conservatism and ignorance. This came at the time that the UK government was spending billions of pounds to improve Cardiff and Wales' image. Even today, this project is remembered by people who do not know anything else about Wales. The project was succeeded by the Wales Millennium Centre, which offered a broader range of attractions more in keeping with Welsh culture, whilst retaining the opera element. This opened in November 2004 to great international acclaim. External link *Wales Millennium Centre official site
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