LETTERS: One opera...two opera houses

From Professor N. Kurti Sir: F. Harris-Jones's letter (15 December) reminds me of a joke about Australia having one opera house. The outside, a magnificent sculpture, adorns Sydney harbour, the inside is in Melbourne.

However, I was reassured by Francis Duffy's remark in a letter of the same day, that the architect of the Cardiff Opera House is supported by the world's premier firm of engineers. One can therefore hope that Cardiff will not suffer the embarrassment Sydney did when it was discovered that the opera house, as designed, could not be built and the Sydney Opera Lottery had to be launched to pay for the four-fold increased costs.

Yours faithfully, N. KURTI Department of Engineering Science Oxford University Oxford 15 December