Jorn Utzon, architect of the Sydney Opera house dies at 90

MRD72 is a chef, food stylist and photographer working in Sydney

MRD72 has contributed a photo to this story.

I didn't realize that Utzon had died until I got home and downloaded these photos .. it was a strange feeling to read the news as the images were uploading.

I've always loved this building and hope that the work that's being done at the moment is as faithful as possible to Utzon's original vision.

Moximus has contributed a photo to this story.

This is a SOOC (straight out of the camera) photo from Friday 28 November 2008.

roquedelcastillo has contributed a photo to this story.

That building is amassing in Sydney. He did some remarkable as well as some very controversial work.

This is a remarkable building, I really love it...there's always something new when you look at it.

Blu3 1ndigo has contributed a photo to this story.

one of the greatest architecture in the world. very inspiring especially for an archi student like me!
nurrelain has contributed a photo to this story.

To me, visiting the Opera House 20 year ago was like seeing the Pyramyds of Egypt for the first time. I had seen the icon thousands of times before, reproduced in pictures in books or magazines; on the TV; in movies… And there it was, a hundred times more splendid than I had ever imagined.

Utzon’s project was selected among many others in what was a rather hasty decision by the tribunal. The project didn’t even meet the specifications of the contest. It consisted of little more than a series of the prettiest designs the judges had ever seen. Once the tribunal set eyes on it, they didn’t want to consider anything else: it had to be Utzon’s project.

I regard that irrational decision as a strike of inspiration for which we must be very thankful. It was one of the few occasions in history in which genius prevailed over tradition, rules and reason, and I believe anyone present or future sensitive enough to art and beauty will find many motives to rejoice in the idea. But, as most emotional decisions, it came with a heavy price tag too…

The building of the Opera House took at least twice as much time as originally planned, and was at least three times as expensive as initially budgeted. Naturally, it was the subject of bitter controversy at the time; so much it eventually had quite a lot to do with the fall of a Labor government in Australia that had to pour into the works so many additional millions of dollars paid by increasingly impatient taxpayers.

It is a well known fact the design of the vaults didn’t correspond to any known mathematical equations. This added an extra burden to the engineering company of Ove Arup, which in the end made it possible with some alterations.

Other factors that complicated the execution of the works were size constraints in the land plot and the poor quality of the soil. The former resulted in a building that fails to completely fulfill the standard requirements of a full-sized opera house (an appropriate backstage, sufficient storeroom), while the latter could only be addressed by means of much deeper and more expensive foundations in order to reach the deep rock layer on which the building finally stands.  

At some point Utzon himself became really fed up with his own creation and the additional complications created around its construction, and disengaged from the project completely. I believe he never visited the completed Opera House.

I spent a few hours there sometime in September 1990. I was still a student of Architecture, and had embarked in a backpack round-the-world trip of which the Opera House was to be one of the highlights. And it was, indeed.

I remember that day started rainy, but was decidedly sunny by early afternoon. This change of lights allowed me to see the building under some very different aspects and appreciate the games of shadows and reflections on the texture of the building and the spaces inside. My first feeling was that of sheer grandiosity. However, the human scale was there and I found the building welcoming rather than overwhelming. Wherever I looked there was something very inspirational, new and unexpected revealing the hand of a great master. One of the most striking features was the view of the old through the new: the splendid sight of the Jackson Bridge of Botany Bay through the lobby of the House.

I had with me my old faithful Olympus OM2 camera and plenty of film. I was pretty much into photography in those days. It goes without saying that, in addition to other considerations, the Opera House is a most inspirational object for any photographer and I had a great time freezing memories into slides on that particular occasion.

I have never been to Australia since. I have always wanted to. If I have a chance, next time I will attend a performance at the Opera House and see again if those wonderful feelings are still there, in me.       

This picture was taken by a crew that was covering our Summit Conference in Sydney during March 2006. Our experience in Sydney was such that I’m planning on returning as soon as I can for an extended visit.

Dawn Marx has contributed a photo to this story.

What a pleasure to photograph and a pleasure to contibute this photo in honour of a remarkable man. Very busy place took me a long time to get a photo without people on the steps.

A Lehne has contributed a photo to this story.

Sydney Opera House on a Dark & Cloudy Day
October 2008

digidigz has contributed a photo to this story.