Jørn Utzon

The quiet, eclectic Dane rose to the monumental challenge of the Sydney Opera House project and delivered one of the greatest designs in architectural history.

Jørn Utzon in conversation at the Hellebæk office, Denmark (1959) by Yuzo MikamiSydney Opera House

Architect Jørn Utzon is best known for his design of the Sydney Opera House, a building that transformed the identity of a nation to become the symbol of Australia, recognised the world over.

Sydney Opera House is a World Heritage-listed masterpiece of human creativity and one of the greatest buildings of the 20th century.

Like many architects, Utzon had initially entered the Australian competition for a national Opera House to exercise ideas. He was surprised to learn he had won.

The judging panel included eminent architects Eero Saarinen, from the United States, and the head of architecture at Cambridge University in the UK, Leslie Martin. The panel was supported by then New South Wales Premier, Joseph Cahill, who was instrumental in making the Opera House a reality.

Inspired by their confidence in his winning design, Utzon held fast to his ideals for a “perfect building”, delivering extraordinary and beautiful designs and solutions for both the external and internal spaces. Even as the program for the building and character of the original aspirations changed around him, Utzon would work to maintain these founding ideals.

However, Utzon's position would eventually become untenable and he was forced to resign, as he saw it, by circumstances involving the Minister for Public Works, Davis Hughes.

Complex and fraught, the politics of Utzon's withdrawal and the subsequent completion of the building by a committee of architects including Peter Hall are explored in detail elsewhere.

Here you can explore the artistry inherent in Utzon's approach to architecture, the startling originality of his ideas, and his re-engagement with Sydney Opera House near the end of his life.

Jørn Utzon's competition submission drawing number 1 (1956) by Jørn UtzonSydney Opera House

This signature design from Utzon's entry to the international competition for the Sydney Opera House shows the shallow Monumental Steps and the underside of the thin concrete shells leafed in gold.

Architects Leslie Martin, Jørn Utzon and Eero Saarinen discuss next steps (1957) by RIBASydney Opera House

Eminent architects Leslie Martin and Eero Saarinen, either side of Utzon, meeting in London in 1957 to discuss next steps in the Sydney Opera House project, having selected Utzon’s as the winning design.

Sydney Opera House: model of Utzon's competition entry for a National Opera House (2015) by LatchkeySydney Opera House

Jørn Utzon’s son, Jan Utzon, describes his father's competition design.

This visualisation of Utzon's competition entry illustrates how low the roof profile was in comparison with the upright design we see today.

This shell design is reminiscent of the works of architects who were designing thin shell concrete structures in the 1950s. Engineer and architect Felix Candela had built several examples of hyper-parabolic structures that had influenced Utzon.

However, the sheer size of the shell design in Utzon’s competition entry made their realisation impractical. Utzon worked with Arup engineers through many variations until settling on the elegant, spherical geometry we see today.

Yet back in 1956, all four judges of the Sydney Opera House competition recognised Utzon’s strong sculptural approach and were eventually unanimous in their decision to make his the winning design.

Kresge Auditorium, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, United States (1953/1955) by DaderotSydney Opera House

Saarinen's celebrated Kresge Auditorium, for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was completed in 1956, the year of the international competition for an Opera House in Sydney. Saarinen became one of four judges of this competition.

His Kresge Auditorium is defined by an elegant, thin-shell structure of reinforced concrete, one-eighth of a sphere rising to a height of 15 metres (50 feet), sliced away by sheer glass curtain walls so that it comes to earth on only three points.

The auditorium is defined by an elegant thin-shell structure of reinforced concrete, one-eighth of a sphere rising to a height of 50 feet, and sliced away by sheer glass curtain walls so that it comes to earth on only three points.

Thin shell concrete architecture (1961) by RIBASydney Opera House

Saarinen's enthusiasm for Utzon’s design was directly related to a commission Saarinen had been working on for what would become his most famous building, the TWA Passenger Terminal at what is now known as John F Kennedy International Airport in Queens, New York.

In 1954, at the beginning of the commercial jet era, the Port Authority of New York had given Trans World Airlines permission to develop a passenger terminal at Idlewild Airport (now JFK Airport). TWA commissioned Saarinen and Associates to design the terminal in 1956.

By the time of judging in 1957, Saarinen would have begun thinking about the form of his celebrated shell structure, which would resonate strikingly with Utzon's original submission drawings.

Another eminent American architect, Cesar Pelli, a young associate working on the TWA building, later recalled he had no doubt that the similar aesthetics between the two designs resonated strongly with Saarinen.

Jørn Utzon's Competition Entry, Page 6, East elevation (1956) by Jørn Utzon and Erik AnderssonSydney Opera House

Jørn Utzon's Competition Entry, Page 2, Site plan, 1:500 scale (1956) by Jørn Utzon and Erik AnderssonSydney Opera House

Unique among the competition entries, Utzon’s design placed the concert halls side by side, their roofs cantilevering out over the end of Bennelong Point, evoking Sydney’s cliffs and sails.

It was a sculptural response to both the competition guidelines and the location, unequalled by the other entries.

Page 3, Site plan (1958) by Jørn UtzonSydney Opera House

As the shape of the shells changed, their position remained the same.

Front cover, the Red Book (1958) by Jørn UtzonSydney Opera House

The cover of the Red Book, featuring a profile of the Sydney Opera House cut out freehand by Utzon.

Back cover of the Red Book (1958) by Jørn UtzonSydney Opera House

Utzon was heavily influenced by natural form in his approach to design. This image is reminiscent of those found in biologist and mathematician D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson's book, On Growth and Form, which was a favourite of Utzon's.

Page 23, Roof profile sketches (1958) by Jørn UtzonSydney Opera House

Jan Utzon describes the inspiration his father's took from nature.
00:00

Sketches of the roof profile from the Red Book reminiscent of leaves and organic forms.

Page 2, Jørn Utzon's pencil sketch of the first geometrical roof profile (1958) by Jørn UtzonSydney Opera House

A freehand sketch of the roof profiles from the Red Book illustrates far more upright shell forms than those expressed in Utzon’s competition sketches.

These profiles illustrate the move away from the distinctly horizontal, thin concrete shells, a profile abandoned in the initial period of formulating the engineering of the building.

What is so striking about this sketch is how elegantly and economically Utzon captures the impression of the Sydney Opera House with his idiosyncratic, thick 6B design pencil.

Page 3, East elevation (1962) by Jørn UtzonSydney Opera House

The final profile of the Sydney Opera House, expressing spherical geometry, after more than three years of experimentation with parabolic and ellipsoid geometries and at least eight primary variations.

Back Cover (1962) by Jørn UtzonSydney Opera House

A page of sketches from the Yellow Book, illustrating Utzon's approval for the form of the side shells that bridge the main shells of the Sydney Opera House. (The Yellow Book presented the "Spherical Solution" – a final design rationale for the roof, alongside the glass wall designs and the most recent designs for the Major and Minor Halls.)

Jørn Utzon, Harry Ashworth and Jack Zunz discuss Sydney Opera House (1962) by Australian Broadcasting CorporationSydney Opera House

Having arrived in Sydney the previous day, Utzon and engineer Jack Zunz are interviewed by Professor Harry Ingham Ashworth of the University of Sydney about the newly resolved roof scheme for Stage Two of the Opera House project.

Filmed live in a television studio in Sydney by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, this excerpt from the film Design 218 gives a wonderful sense of the end of a period of intense work by both architects and engineers to solve the difficult problem of the roof scheme, the elegant resolution of which is known as the Spherical Solution.

Jørn Utzon with one of his favourite Faber pencils (1962)Sydney Opera House

Utzon in 1962, holding his 6B design pencil.

Jørn Utzon's son, Jan Utzon, interview part 1, Sydney Opera House, 2016, From the collection of: Sydney Opera House
Show lessRead more
Juxtaposition of a boat and the final roof scheme, Jørn Utzon, 1958/1962, From the collection of: Sydney Opera House
Show lessRead more
Jørn Utzon at a drafting table, Latchkey after Yuzo Mikami, 2015, From the collection of: Sydney Opera House
Show lessRead more

Utzon at work at a drafting table in 1960, a year described by his assistants and colleagues as an idyllic time of hard work in the peaceful setting of Hellebæk.

Jørn Utzon's son, Jan Utzon, interview part 2, Sydney Opera House, 2016, From the collection of: Sydney Opera House
Show lessRead more
Kronborg Castle, Denmark, Latchkey, 2015, From the collection of: Sydney Opera House
Show lessRead more

Utzon's father was a naval architect and director of Copenhagen’s Helsingør Shipyards, located alongside the elegant Kronborg Castle, chosen by Shakespeare as the setting for his famous play about a conflicted prince called Hamlet.

In 1956, at the age of 38, Jørn Utzon would go straight to nautical maps to get a sense of the landscape crucial to a recently announced competition for an Opera House on Sydney Harbour.

Kronborg Castle, Denmark, Latchkey, 2015, From the collection of: Sydney Opera House
Show lessRead more

Kronborg Castle, poised on a promontory into the Øresund, the strait between Denmark and Sweden, would provide a natural point of reference in imagining Bennelong Point on the other side of the world.

Jørn Utzon's son, Jan Utzon, interview part 3, Sydney Opera House, 2016, From the collection of: Sydney Opera House
Show lessRead more
Tikal Temple I, Guatemala, and forest canopy, Latchkey, 2015, From the collection of: Sydney Opera House
Show lessRead more

In 1949, 31 years old and on a visit to Mexico, Utzon climbed out of the dark and confining Yucatan jungle to the top of a Mayan temple to discover an infinitely open plane above the jungle canopy.

Utzon saw how these temples lifted people above their daily lives to a transcendent plateau where, beneath the clouds and sky, they could commune with their gods.

The pre-Columbian archaeological site of Monte Alban, Yucatan Peninsula, Jørn Utzon, 1949, From the collection of: Sydney Opera House
Show lessRead more

This photograph by Utzon resonates remarkably with the podium of the Sydney Opera House: the Monumental Steps leading to the top of the plateau with the centres of performance at the far end.

Plateau and clouds sketch, Jørn Utzon, 1962, From the collection of: Sydney Opera House
Show lessRead more
Clouds Sketch, Jørn Utzon, 1962, From the collection of: Sydney Opera House
Show lessRead more

A sketch study of clouds above a plateau.

Pagoda roof sketch, Jørn Utzon, 1962, From the collection of: Sydney Opera House
Show lessRead more

This floating pagoda roof suggests "the required interplay between roof and platform was to be achieved by creating a floating, almost ephemeral roof structure", said Queensland University of Technology Research Professor of Design Tom Heath (1931-88).

Abstract roof sketch, Jørn Utzon, 1962, From the collection of: Sydney Opera House
Show lessRead more

Here Utzon's "ephemeral roof" emerges from the pagoda style into an abstracted shell structure, evolving and infusing the form with lightness.

Plateau sketch, Jørn Utzon, 1962, From the collection of: Sydney Opera House
Show lessRead more

Beneath the roof, the platform on which figures can be seen.

The Podium and the shells, Latchkey, 2015, From the collection of: Sydney Opera House
Show lessRead more

Utzon would go on to use the ancient temple form as a foundation from which to elevate both the monumental Sydney Opera House and its millions of visitors above everyday life.

Arriving on this plateau, at the top of the Monumental Steps, the visitor marvels at the vaulted roof, sculptural from all sides.

Utzon family home just outside of Hellebæk, Denmark; Jørn Utzon can be seen with their dog (1960) by State Library of New South WalesSydney Opera House

Utzon designed his own house in Hellebæk, nestled in the beech forest, and inspired by the “Usonian” style coined by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright.

Much later in life Utzon noted how, in choosing to live in a beech forest and to reflect natural forms and functions in his work, he had been following the advice of the great Scandinavian architect Alvar Aalto.

Jørn Utzon's wife, Lis Utzon, in the family home just outside of Hellebæk, Denmark (1960) by State Library of New South WalesSydney Opera House

Model detailing the sections of the roof in place in the form of the sphere (1962) by State Library of New South WalesSydney Opera House

Arguably Utzon's greatest design achievement in the legacy of his work on the Sydney Opera House was his innovative creation of the roof’s form using spherical geometry.

Model detailing the sections derived from a sphere that comprise the final scheme for the roof (1962) by State Library of New South WalesSydney Opera House

Sections of the wooden spherical model set out on a mirror surface (1962) by State Library of New South WalesSydney Opera House

Sydney Opera House: the Spherical Solution, Latchkey, 2015, From the collection of: Sydney Opera House
Show lessRead more

Utzon's breakthrough was to derive each of the shells from the constant and universal form of the sphere. This one decision solved a multitude of problems at once. It captured the essence of the original sketch while allowing the building blocks to be prefabricated with comparative ease.

It also elevated the finished building beyond a style identified with the times to give it an ageless form.

Sydney Opera House: projection of the Spherical Solution, Latchkey, 2015, From the collection of: Sydney Opera House
Show lessRead more

This animation describes the shells of the Sydney Opera House as they are derived from spherical geometry and resolving into the cover of the Yellow Book which documented the final roof geometry of the building, drafted by Spanish architect Rafael Moneo.

Model of Spherical Solution, west elevation (1962) by State Library of New South WalesSydney Opera House

An early, pristine model of the newly devised spherical geometry for the roof of the Sydney Opera House.

Various angles on an early model of the parabolic scheme (1960) by State Library of New South WalesSydney Opera House

Photographing the first model of the spherical roof geometry.

Studies for vaulted and side shells, State Library of New South Wales, 1962, From the collection of: Sydney Opera House
Show lessRead more
Utzon's sketch for the Minor Hall ceiling, Jørn Utzon, 1959, From the collection of: Sydney Opera House
Show lessRead more
Jørn Utzon looking down on a model of the Spherical Solution, State Library of New South Wales, 1962, From the collection of: Sydney Opera House
Show lessRead more

Utzon leaving the offices of Minister for Public Works Davis Hughes, having declared his intention to withdraw from the project (1965) by Sydney Opera HouseSydney Opera House

Utzon leaving the offices of the New South Wales Minister for Public Works, Davis Hughes, having declared his intention to withdraw from the project (1965)
by Sydney Opera House
Sydney Opera House

Despite the collective ambition and colossal effort demonstrated from the very beginning of the project of the Sydney Opera House, by 1965, disputes and disagreements had seriously fractured the project’s leadership. A change in the state government, from Labor under Premier Joe Cahill to Liberal under Premier Robert Askin, compounded the friction and brought with it a changing political will that, long before the building was finished, compelled Utzon to resign.

He would leave Australia in 1965, eight years before the Sydney Opera House opened, never to return to see his masterpiece finished.

Bring back Utzon sticker designed by Karen Herrle, with Leif Kristensen and John Kinstler (1967) by Sydney Opera HouseSydney Opera House

There were many forms of protest against the government for, as the protesters saw it, the dismissal of Utzon from the project of the Sydney Opera House.

No one could have anticipated the immediate and intense reaction against then Minister for Public Works, Davis Hughes, for accepting Utzon's resignation. National and international associates, famous architects, friends and strangers alike called for his return and many supporters took to the streets in protest.

To some, the treatment meted out to Utzon was indicative of a wider social malaise then prevailing in Australia. His creative battles symbolised the increasing irrelevance of so many establishment values.

Broader ethical, social and political questions were being raised at the time, and alongside the generational division of sentiment about the Vietnam War, Utzon's treatment became another cause for tension and dissent.

Protesters march from the construction site to NSW Government House, Unknown, 1965, From the collection of: Sydney Opera House
Show lessRead more

Within two days of the announcement that Utzon had resigned, architect Harry Seidler and the director of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Hal Missingham, had rallied other architects, students, intellectuals and labourers into the streets, congregating at Bennelong Point for speeches then marching to Parliament House to deliver a petition of 3000 names to NSW Premier Robert Askin that called for Utzon's reinstatement. Renowned novelist Patrick White and the Dean of Architecture at the University of Sydney, Denis Winston, led the march alongside Seidler and Missingham.

Utzon described the protest as "marvellous".

Sydney architect Bruce Rickard (1929-2010) said: "No one can replace Mr Utzon, the perfectionist with fantastic integrity ... No consortium, no committee, has ever – or ever will – create a work of art."

Protest posters designed by architect John Kinstler, John Kinstler, 1965, From the collection of: Sydney Opera House
Show lessRead more

The different forms of dissent and protest proved to be an example of the generational divide. Younger architects saw the behaviour of their superiors as outrageously outdated. The government architect, Ted Farmer, seen as instrumental to Utzon's demise, was regarded as having compromised both a great work of art and its visionary architect on a grand scale.

"The only architect technically and ethically able to complete the Opera House as it should be completed" - support for Utzon from the petition signed by 75 of the 85 Government Architects in the Public Works Department, written by Ted Mack, later Mayor of North Sydney and known as the “father of the independents”.

Jørn Utzon in 1973, interview part 1, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 1973, From the collection of: Sydney Opera House
Show lessRead more

This is part one of three segments of the same interview recorded in 1973, in which journalist Peter Luck tracked down Utzon holidaying in Sweden to interview him about his thoughts on Sydney Opera House in the year of the building's completion.

Jørn Utzon in 1973, interview part 2, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 1973, From the collection of: Sydney Opera House
Show lessRead more
Jørn Utzon in 1973, interview part 3, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 1973, From the collection of: Sydney Opera House
Show lessRead more

Jørn Utzon discusses designs during his re-engagement with the Sydney Opera House (1999) by Sydney Opera HouseSydney Opera House

In late 1998, another New South Wales Premier, Bob Carr, wrote to Utzon asking if he would establish a set of design principles that would ensure his vision for the building would inform its evolution.

In 1999, 33 years after leaving Australia, and with the tumult of 1966 long behind him, Utzon once again signed a contract with the New South Wales government and re-engaged with Sydney Opera House.

In the three decades since his departure, Sydney Opera House had been host to tens of thousands of performances and millions of visitors. It had become the most recognised and esteemed symbol of Sydney, as well as the nation. Its cultural and architectural value is now beyond doubt.

Jørn Utzon with his son, Jan Utzon, after Utzon's re-engagement with the Sydney Opera House (1999) by Sydney Opera HouseSydney Opera House

Jørn Utzon with his son Jan after Utzon's re-engagement with Sydney Opera House (1999)
by Sydney Opera House
Sydney Opera House

While he saw no need to return to Australia, Utzon swiftly set about updating aspects of the building with the help of his son Jan. At the same time, prominent Sydney architect Richard Johnson was engaged to work with the Utzons and to develop a Venue Improvement Plan.

On publication of the Utzon Design Principles in 2002, the Carr Government committed $A69 million to the refurbishment plan. This included creation of the first interior space fully realised to Utzon's specifications. The Utzon Room celebrates the form of the Concourse beams that define the ceiling; its southern wall is glass, overlooking the harbour.

The north wall is dominated by a tapestry designed by Utzon, inspired by the music of Bach and Raphael's painting, The Procession to Calvary.

The Utzon Room is explored in detail in "The Master's Chamber" exhibit.

Jørn Utzon (1999) by Sydney Opera HouseSydney Opera House

In 2003, Utzon was awarded the Pritzker Prize, the world's most prestigious architectural award. The judges recognised Sydney Opera House as “a masterpiece – Jørn Utzon's masterpiece”.

Architect Richard Weston, who worked with Utzon during the re-engagement process, observed: "Like most great works of art that achieve wide popularity its appeal is visceral and optical more than cerebral. A sublime flower with primitive roots, it is one of very few 20th-century buildings to be measured against the achievements of past civilisations."

Jørn Utzon died on 29 November 2008, at the age of 90.

On behalf of the family, Utzon’s son Jan wrote that in his father’s long and full life: "Nothing escaped his keen eye. He observed the world around him with extraordinary clearness. From all these sources of inspiration, be it the pyramids of Mexico, the temple compounds of China, the half-timbered farms of Denmark, the branch of a tree, the leaf on a flower, a stone from the beach, the pattern in the snow, the slant of the sunlight, from music, sculpture, paintings and the humanistic thinking by great philosophers, he created a world of his own, a legacy of great and modest buildings that are ours to enjoy, far beyond his lifetime."

Jørn Utzon describes his design for the glass walls in time lapse (1965) by Jozef Vissel, National Portrait Gallery, CanberraSydney Opera House

Credits: Story

Created by Sam Doust and the
Sydney Opera House GCI Team

________________________________


Contributors:
Australian Broadcasting Corporation Library Sales
Latchkey
National Portrait Gallery, Canberra
State Library of New South Wales
State Records NSW

Credits: All media
The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions, listed below, who have supplied the content.
Explore more
Related theme
Performing Arts
Step on stage with the world’s most amazing performers and immerse yourself in 360º shows.
View theme