Sydney Opera House, Jørn Utzon Architecture, Architect, Project, News, Photos

Sydney Opera House : Building by Jørn Utzon

Key 20th Century Australian Building, New South Wales: Information + Images

30 Mar 2016

Le Corbusier tapestry at Sydney Opera House

Jørn Utzon’s final touch to the Sydney Opera House: a Le Corbusier tapestry

Le Corbusier’s tapestry Les Dés Sont Jetés (The Dice Are Cast), commissioned by architect Jørn Utzon.

Le Corbusier tapestry at Sydney Opera House
The Dice Are Cast photo from www.smh.com.au

“When the young Danish architect Jørn Utzon won the international design competition for this building in 1958, his plans were holistic, comprising not just the unlikely structure of the building but the art within it, too”, reports The Guardian.

Le Corbusier tapestry Sydney Opera HouseLes Dés Sont Jetés image from www.smh.com.au

“Utzon wanted to hang the walls with modern art that would complement the sculptural effect of his architecture – names such as Picasso, Matisse and Charles-Édouard Jeanneret-Gris, the pioneering modern architect and artist from France known by his pseudonym, Le Corbusier.”

Website: Le Corbusier tapestry at Sydney Opera House

Sydney Opera House Building

Date built: 1973

Architect: Jørn Utzon, Denmark

Sydney Opera House building
building image supplied by RIAS

Utzon worked with Ove Arup on this seminal building in Australia’s largest city. In 1966 the Danish architect Jorn Utzon left Sydney, never to return.

He was forced out of the Sydney Opera House project by well-documented political infighting and the cancellation of his contract.

The building was declared a World Heritage Site on 28 June 2007.

Opera House Building in Sydney
photo by Travellers & Tinkers – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, http://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=25562568

Recently Jorn Utzon – with his son Jan and their firm Utzon Architects – recommenced work with the Sydney Opera House Trust on renovations.

Sydney Opera House architect – Jorn Utzon – information on this Danish architect

In 1957, Utzon unexpectedly won the architecture competition to design this opera house. His submission was one of 233 designs from 32 countries, many of them from the most famous architects of the day.

Although he had won six other architecture competitions, the Opera House was his first project outside of Denmark. One of the judges, architectEero Saarinen, described it as “genius” and declared he could not endorse any other choice.

Thumbnail images – no larger picture, apologies:
Sydney Opera House
photo supplied by RIAS

Concept Sketch for the building by Jørn Utzon
Sydney Opera House sketch
sketch from RIAS

Building Refurbishment
Dates: 2008-11
Design: Jorn Utzon with Richard Johnson, Sydney

LEGO Model
LEGO Model of this major NSW building
image © The LEGO Group
Sydney Opera House Model : LEGO Architecture

Opera House Building Sydney
photograph by John Hill – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, http://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=40643439

This famous Australian building a masterpiece of late-modernist architecture that is admired internationally and treasured by the people of Australia, has had its famous sculpted curves recreated by LEGO® Architecture.

The Opera House building was created by Jørn Utzon, a young Danish architect who understood the potential provided by the site against the stunning backdrop of Sydney Harbour. The massive concrete sculptural shells that form the roof appear like billowing sails filled by the sea winds. Utzon envisaged it as a Gothic cathedral that people would never tire of and ‘never be finished with’.

Sydney Opera House Building
photo by jamal nazar from jeddah, Saudi Arabia – close up of sydney opera house, CC BY-SA 2.0, http://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=32224753

Location: Sydney Opera House, Sydney, NSW, Australia

Australian Architecture

New South Wales Architecture Designs – architectural selection below:

Sydney Architecture

Sydney Architecture Photos

Australian Architecture

Australian Architect Offices – Architectural Offices Information

Australian Houses – completed properties and proposed residential building designs across Australia, with a focus is on interesting contemporary homes.

Whale Beach House
photo courtesy of Kraig Carlstrom

Jørn Oberg Utzon, AC, Hon. FAIA (1918 – 2008).
When the Sydney building was declared a World Heritage Site he became only the second person to have received such recognition for one of his works during his lifetime.
Key architectural designs by this architect include Bagsværd Church in Copenhagen, the National Assembly Building in Kuwait and the Kingo Houses near Helsingør.

Kim Utzon Architects

Utzon Centre, Denmark

Sydney Architectural Designs

Sydney Architecture Designs – architectural selection below:

Sydney Central Station Development, Henry Deane Plaza, Central Business District
Design: SOM and Fender Katsalidis
v
image © SOM | Fender Katsalidis
Sydney Central Station Development
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and architects Fender Katsilidis win the international design competition for a landmark project at Sydney’s Central Station. The development seeks to rejuvenate the city’s busiest transport interchange with a new, vibrant public realm, and bring two tech-focused office towers with the world’s first AI-driven facade system, powered by 100% renewable energy to Central Business District.

Pitt Street OSD and metro station, corner of Park & Pitt streets
Design: Foster + Partners
Pitt Street Over Station Development Sydney
image © Foster + Partners
Pitt Street Over Station Development
Strategically located at the junction of Sydney’s southern CBD and the midtown retail precinct, the station stretches underground across an entire city block between Park Street and Bathurst Street.

Comments / photos for the Sydney Opera House Architecture page welcome

Website: Sydney Opera House