nomination by the Government of Australia - Sydney Opera House

Utzon’s design modifi ed the established internal
circulation patterns, seating layouts and positioning
of technological and functional requirements of the
conventional arts centre (Tombesi 2005). The design
also provided a highly original response to the harbour
setting, inspired by the site, people and nature together
with an assortment of themes refi ned from other
architecture, particularly ancient forms and styles
(Weston 2004a: 28, 34–35). The jury was impressed
that the ‘white sail-like forms of the shell vaults relate
as naturally to the harbour as the sails of its yachts’
(Murray 2004: 10). Another important aspect was the
design of the massive open platform and cave-like
shells to entice visitors to inhabit and explore them
(Weston 2004a: 34–36). The Sydney Opera House was
very much designed to be a people’s building. These
and other outstanding elements of the design are
described below.
Utzon’s unique design was acclaimed as the work
of a genius in Australia and internationally but it also
attracted critics. The competition jury was convinced
that Utzon’s design was ‘the most original and creative
submission … capable of being one of the great
buildings of the world’ (New South Wales Government
1956: 2). Jury member Eero Saarinen was, reportedly,
immediately alert to the brilliance of Utzon’s design and
played a role in convincing the jury of its uniqueness.
3.3 3.4
Figure 3.3 Jørn Utzon’s studio in
Denmark, 1960
The design was hailed as exhilarating and brilliant
in Australia and overseas. For Saarinen, it clearly
was ‘a work of genius’ (quoted in Weston 2002:
114). Inevitably, the originality of the design also
drew detractors from some world-famous architects
and engineers, such as Mies van der Rohe, Frank
Lloyd Wright, Pier Luigi Nervi and Felix Candela,
on architectural grounds and as an unbuildable
masterpiece (Weston 2002: 114, 118; Murray
2004: 11). Utzon’s groundbreaking design did pose
architectural, structural and technological challenges
that pushed the boundaries of creativity and science.
Figure 3.4 Utzon’s sketches of the shells, 1961
…his public architecture always seeks a
heroic dimension. Utzon, like a new Hercules
constantly engaged in fi ghting the Nemean
Lion or winning the Golden Apples of the
Hesperides, exerts himself to resolve the
seemingly impossible: prefabricating the
fantastical forms of the Sydney ‘shells’; giving
the cement coffering in Silkeborg the softness
and delicacy of a mollusk; weightlessly
suspending the roofs in Elviria and Zurich’
(Moneo 2004: 88).
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