Jorn Utzon spectacular architecture in Australia & Denmark

The inspiration for Jorn Utzon’s unique Syd­ney Opera House was in the arch­itect’s former hometown. Aalborg, nor­thern Den­mark’s larg­est city, is c5 hours from Copenhagen, bisected by Limf­j­ord Wat­er­way. Ut­zon (1918-2008) was a local teen who loved Sea Scout regattas, ch­an­n­el­l­ing nature into a build­ing decades later.

Utzon’s affinity with the sea shaped his oeuvre. Boat building was part of his creative universe, a place he could escape to. Utzon visited his naval-engineer father in Aalborg’s shipyard, lying under the boats to study how they were assembled. Later he tested boat des­igns; he found boat-design beaut­if­ul but chall­eng­ing, a con­dition that may have affect­ed his later design efforts in Sydney.

Sails and glass walls in the

Sydney Opera House

Utzon's Photos

The project of the Syd­ney Opera House began in 1954 when NSW state premier Joe Cahill brought together a comm­it­tee. An internat­ion­­al design com­p­etition was launched in 1957, attracting international 233 entries. The jury searched for an ambitious concept of an opera house which could become one of the great buildings of the world. They eventually selected 38-year-old Danish Arch­itect Jørn Utzon as the winner, "because of its very original­ity. In Aug 1958 the building process began with flattening the Fort Macquarie Tramsheds on Bennel­ong point

Architect Dr Line Norskov Dav­enport, Exhibitions Director at Aal­borg’s Utzon Centre said Utzon saw the Opera House in parts: the 1]platform, 2]roof and 3]interior, separate but in harmony. It was the interior, partic­ularly the tricky ac­oustics issue, where nature’s influence on the de­sign counted; sound bounced off waves and spread.

Instead of the modernist architecture that had been developing for 30 years, Ut­zon’s design was more sculptural and expressionist. In May 1965 the NSW state government changed when the Conservative parties formed a Coal­ition. By late 1965, Utzon needed £60,000 to build the prototypes he needed to test the large, plywood beams that would be suspended from the shell’s ar­ches to support the ceiling. Without these prototypes, Utzon couldn’t advance with the Opera House’s interior draw­ings, so payments stopped!

In Feb 1966 Utzon met Davis Hughes, NSW minister for Public Works, to discuss the money he was owed for managing the stage machinery con­t­racts. Hughes said he could not make a decision and hours later, Ut­zon’s secretary handed a letter to Hughes in which Utzon accused the Minister of forcing him out. Hughes quickly made arrange­ments for an Opera House without Utzon’s involvement and sought assurances from the engineers and builders that they could continue. Hughes told the press and Parliament that very evening that Utzon had resigned.

Utzon’s sacking caused an outcry eg protest letters from em­in­ent ar­t­ists, designers and intellectuals. People marched on NSW’s State Par­l­iam­ent, led by great architect Har­ry Seidler and famous au­thor Patrick White for Utzon’s restoration. At the same time, there was a constant, unpleasant media swirl around the project. The work cont­in­ued but Hughes offered Utzon only the subordinate consultant role.

English engineer Ove Arup, responsible for building the Opera House shells, pleaded with Utzon to reconsider. The Op­­era House’s fu­t­­ure without him was unthinkable, but the Ut­zon-Gov­ernment rupture was complete; the Min­is­t­er banned further negoti­ati­­on.

In Ap 1966 Minister Hughes appointed another panel of Australian ar­ch­it­ects to complete the Opera House, with Peter Hall heading De­sign and completing the interiors. The Utzon family flew home, carrying an inc­omplete set of the Stage 3 drawings. Utzon had told his staff that the Minister would realise the Op­era House could not be com­pl­eted without him and that he’d be back within 2 years. Wrong ☹

How did Denmark feel about Australia’s treatment of Utzon? Most Dan­es felt a sense of pride that a countryman went to distant Australia to create the symbol of cultural Australia. But does the story of his depart­ure still have sad meanings for Danes?

Bagsvaerd Church, Copen­hagen

ArchDaily

 

After returning home, Utzon’s first project (1976) was Bagsvaerd Church, Copen­hagen. The exterior has strange concrete walls and metal roof but it was the interior that most resembled the Opera House. A sp­l­it and curving ceiling rose to an arch where light ent­er­s via semi-hidden windows. The interior space amazes architect­ural groups.

The Utzon Centre in Aalborg opened 6 months before the architect’s death in 2008, modern design that contrasts with Aal­borg’s old streets. The Cent­re holds all of his arch­ives, on display in a perm­anent exh­ib­ition. This treasure chamber of exhibits has prot­o­types, models, documents and reports, some reflecting on the Sydney crisis in 1966. See the Yellow Book Exhibit which captured Utzon’s final geometric principle of the roof.

While his work is the Utzon Centre’s heart, it operates as a broa­d­er display of architecture and design. There’s a department at Aal­borg University in a post-Utzon discipline, robotics studio, child­ren’s space and upstairs auditorium with a ceiling curving to skylights.

Aalborg has a fine Music House of its own, containing a concert hall and practice rooms for the Aalborg Symphony Orchestra and The Royal Academy of Music. It didn’t open (2014) until after Utzon passed away.

See the distinct­ive Museum of Modern Art designed by an Utzon mentor, Finnish archit­ect Alvar Aalto; Aalborg is a very cultural city. Since 1987 music stars visiting Aalborg were invited to plant trees in a park, and noted artists have painted c80 buildings with murals.

House of Music AAlborg

Floornature.com

Utzon Centre, Aalborg

Tropter

In Oct 2023 Sydney Opera House’s 50th birthday festival will display the performing arts. Utzon’s children, designer Lin & architect Jan, will discuss their father’s legacy in a lecture. And see a pro­gr­amme of performances by Australian contemporary artists, the ch­amber orch­estra Academy of St Martin in the Fields and Sadler’s Wells Theatre

Read the excellent Our Story Jørn Utzon.