It stands by itself as one of the indisputable masterpieces of human creativity, not only in the 20th century but in the history of humankind.
Expert evaluation report to the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, 2007
The architect of Sydney Opera House, Jørn Utzon was a relatively unknown 38 year old Dane until January 29, 1957 when his entry, scheme number 218, was announced winner of the ‘International competition for a national opera house at Bennelong Point, Sydney’. With his vision the City of Sydney was to become an international city.
Jørn Utzon was born on April 9,1918 in Copenhagen. He received his Diploma in Architecture from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen in 1942 and established his own architectural office there in 1946.
In 1956 the New South Wales Premier, Joe Cahill, announced an international competition for the design of an opera house for Sydney which attracted more than 200 entries from around the world.
Story goes that during the judging of the competition one of the judges, renowned American architect, Eero Saarinen, arrived in Sydney after the other three judges had started assessing the entries. He looked through their rejected entries and stopped at the Utzon design declaring it to be outstanding.
Over several years Utzon gradually made changes from his original concept designs in order to develop a way to construct the large shells that cover the two halls. After extensive testing, Utzon developed a design based on the complex sections of a sphere.
From 1964 the pre-cast rib vaults of the shells began to be erected on the completed podium. The construction of the roof brought together some of the world's best construction engineers and craftsmen for this complex stage of the project, devising new and innovative techniques to find the goal of architectural perfection and in doing so, create a major visual impact which delivered Utzon’s vision.
Although Utzon had spectacular plans for the interior of the completed shells he was unable to realise this part of his design. In mid 1965 a new Liberal government was elected in the state of NSW. The Minster of Works Davis Hughes began questioning Utzon's designs, schedules and cost estimates and eventually stopped payments to Utzon who was forced to withdraw as chief architect in February 1966.
Following Utzon’s letter of resignation there were protests and marches through the streets of Sydney led by Australian architect Harry Seidler, author Patrick White and others, demanding Utzon be reinstated as architect. The NSW government did not offer him this role, Jørn Utzon left the country at the end of April with his family, never to return to see his masterpiece again.
When Sydney Opera House was opened by Queen Elizabeth II on October 20, 1973, Utzon was awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Institute of Architects Australia but was not present at the opening ceremony.
After his work on Sydney Opera House, Jørn Utzon completed other architectural projects such as the Can Lis in Majorca (1972), Bagsværd Church in Denmark (1976), the Kuwait National Assembly (1983), The Paustian Furniture Store in Copenhagen (1987) and Can Feliz in Majorca (1995).
In 1999 the NSW Government and Sydney Opera House Trust were delighted to be able to reunite the man and his masterpiece. After a number of approaches, conversations and finally meetings, Utzon agreed to be re-engaged to develop a set of Design Principles to act as a guide for all future changes to the building.
Utzon said of the Design Principles, "My job is to articulate the overall vision and detailed design principles for the site, and for the form of the building and its interior".
“I like to think the Sydney Opera House is like a musical instrument, and like any fine instrument, it needs a little maintenance and fine tuning, from time to time, if it is to keep on performing at the highest level."
In 2003, the same year that Sydney Opera House celebrated its 30th birthday, Jørn Utzon was awarded the Pritzker Prize for Architecture, the highest award in its field.
The first venue at Sydney Opera House designed by Jørn Utzon was officially opened on September 16, 2004 by NSW Premier Bob Carr and renamed the Utzon Room in honour of the great architect.
When asked if he would agree to the room being named after him Utzon said it was the greatest honour he could ever receive.
“It (the naming) gives me the greatest pleasure and satisfaction. I don’t think you can give me more joy as the architect. It supersedes any medal of any kind that I could get and have got.”
Since the opening of the Utzon Room in 2004, which is the only authentic Utzon interior in the building, Jørn Utzon has been the architect for several other projects, collaborating with his architect son Jan and Australian architect Richard Johnson on The Colonnade, the Accessibility and Western Foyers Project and the Opera Theatre Renewal Project.
The Colonnade was the first exterior change to the building since it opened. Nine openings were created along the Harbour Bridge side of Sydney Opera House into the Playhouse and The Studio foyers – six new large deep set windows and three glass doors. The foyers are now flooded with natural light and for the first time patrons can enjoy harbour and city views. The Colonnade was opened by Queen Elizabeth II in March 2006. Importantly, this opportunity was used by the Queen to formally recognise the building’s visionary architect, Jørn Utzon.
Utzon’s son Jan took his place in the Colonnade opening ceremony, saying his father "is too old by now to take the long flight to Australia. But he lives and breathes the Opera House, and as its creator he just has to close his eyes to see it."
Utzon's work included the the Accessibility and Western Foyers Project which will greatly improve accessibility for visitors to the House and designs for a more extreme interior renewal project, which principally aims to alleviate some of the current constraints in staging and performance in the Opera Theatre.
When this project was announced in August 2006, Utzon said, “From my point of view, and our point of view as architects, we want to give spectators and visitors to the Opera House a beautiful extra experience and we are so happy to have this opportunity to create such a lively, marvellous atmosphere.”
Jorn Utzon died peacefully in his sleep in Copenhagen on 29 November 2008 aged 90.
“The light didn’t know how beautiful it was, until it was reflected off this building.” American architect, Louis Kahn