A stone lintel proves the existence of perforated bricks in the side openings for ventilation and lighting.

Similarly, the rough perforated brick Utzon had prescribed for improving the acoustics inside the building was replaced with American acoustic panels.

"It is a great relief," said Francesco Ernani, the director of Rome's opera, which will have its summer season amid the perforated brick walls of the baths for at least the next three years.

His buildings tend to emphasize prolific - at times virtuosic - masonry construction, instilling privacy and evoking history with brick jali walls, a perforated brick screen which invites a natural air flow to cool the buildings' interior, in addition to creating intricate patterns of light and shadow.