Sydney Opera House digitally rendered by Scots team

SYDNEY Opera House is being digitally mapped by a team of Scottish designers.

The Australian landmark is being scanned for the Scottish Ten project, with experts issuing the first results for World Heritage Day, today.

They are using lasers to scan ten world heritage sites – five in Scotland and five around the world – to create 3D models to be preserved for posterity.

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The project brings together Historic Scotland and 3D scan experts from Glasgow School of Art’s digital design studio, as well as California-based digital heritage organisation CyArk.

Sydney Opera House, in New South Wales, is the only modern building on the list.

The other sites include the heads of American presidents carved into Mount Rushmore in South Dakota and Rani Ki Vav, an ornate well in Gujarat, India.

The laser mapping is due to be completed in time for the Opera House’s 40th anniversary celebrations in October.

Scottish sites being captured are the ruins of St Kilda, the heart of Neolithic Orkney, the village of New Lanark, the city of Edinburgh and the Antonine Wall.

Culture secretary Fiona ­Hyslop said: “The Sydney Opera House truly is one of the world’s most iconic buildings and I am delighted that a team from Scotland is using their expertise to digitally record it as part of the Scottish Ten.

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“Last year, when I announced the Opera House as the fourth international site in this ground-breaking project, I knew it would be a fascinating addition to the Scottish Ten and a fitting gesture for its 40th anniversary.

“The inclusion of the Opera House will help strengthen the historic and cultural links between Scotland and Australia ahead of our Year of Homecoming in 2014.”

George Souris, New South Wales minister for tourism, said: “I am delighted that the much-anticipated Scottish Ten project is under way.”

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