nomination by the Government of Australia - Sydney Opera House

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Part 10. Appendices
Utzon undertook international study tours to Europe
and Morocco in 1947–1948 and to Mexico and the
United States in 1949. These were funded by his
prize money from the Bissen Prize (1947) and the
Zacharia Jacobsen Award (1949). He examined Mayan
and Aztec architecture in Mexico and met architects
Frank Lloyd Wright, Eero Saarinen and Mies van der
Rohe in the United States. In 1950 Utzon set up his
own architectural practice in Denmark and two years
later established a partnership with Erik and Henry
Andersson based in Helsingborg, Sweden. Between
1953 and 1960 Utzon was awarded fi rst prize in several
Scandinavian competitions, mainly for housing projects.
They included the Eckensberg Medal for Architecture
(1957) for the Kingo housing development in Denmark.
In 1956 Utzon worked on his entry for the Sydney
Opera House international design competition. The
design was produced within his partnership with Erik
Andersson but the entry was submitted in Utzon’s
name, in recognition that he was the dominant
designer. In early 1957 Utzon was announced the
competition winner and he immediately began work on
a model of the building. Utzon worked on the Sydney
Opera House from Denmark until 1963, making annual
visits to Sydney. He worked in close collaboration with
the London-based Danish structural engineer, Ove
Arup, and Arup’s staff on the geometry of the shells.
In early 1963 Utzon closed his Denmark offi ce and
moved his family to Sydney. Utzon continued to
enter European-based design competitions and was
awarded fi rst prize for the model that he worked on
with his Sydney staff for the Zurich theatre project.
From 1965 tensions arose between Utzon and the New
South Wales Government over cost and time overruns
on the Sydney Opera House project. These tensions
led to Utzon’s withdrawal from the project in February
1966 and his departure from Sydney in April 1966.
From 1968–1971 Utzon worked on a number
of projects including the Bagsvaerd Church in
Copenhagen and the Jeddah sports stadium in Saudi
Arabia. In 1970 he was awarded the Mobel Prize for
furniture design for his 8108 chair. Utzon and his wife
moved to a house he designed, known as Can Lis, on
the Mediterranean island of Majorca in 1971. Utzon
was a Visiting Professor at the School of Architecture,
University of Hawaii from 1971–1973. He was
awarded fi rst prize in the competition for the Kuwait
National Assembly Complex in 1972 and worked on
this project until 1979.
10.2
In 1982 he established Utzon Associates with his
architect sons. Utzon collaborated with his sons
on several projects including the Paustian furniture
showroom (Copenhagen 1987), the Danish Museum
for Modern Art (Fredensborg 1988) and several
other museums of science, history, culture and art
in Denmark.
In 1998 Utzon accepted a New South Wales
Government proposal to develop design principles
for the Sydney Opera House. With his son Jan he
worked with Australian architect Richard Johnson
on the principles. The Sydney Opera House Utzon
design principles 2002 was released in 2002. Utzon
subsequently acted as consultant for the refurbishment
of the Sydney Opera House interiors.
In 2003 the Utzon Center was established at Aalborg
University to expand the appreciation of Utzon’s
work within the context of Nordic and international
architecture and design. Utzon has been the subject of
an extensive and rapidly expanding body of scholarship
including writings by Sigfried Giedion, Philip Drew and
Richard Weston (see below).
Today, Utzon continues to work with Utzon Associates.
Figure 10.2 Jørn Utzon