Architect Jørn Utzon designed the Sydney Opera House, completed in 1973. Utzon received the Pritzker Prize in 2003 for the opera house, “one of the great iconic buildings of the twentieth century.”
The composition brings together complex cuts from a sphere, gesturing like sails in the waters of Sydney. Utzon took inspiration from his own love for sailing, Kronborg castle on the coast of Denmark, and Chichen Itza. His white shells were larger than life at the time of construction, like nothing that had ever been built. Utzon’s history in residential design made for a personal, intimate space. But the interior turned out to be not as interesting as Utzon hoped, because Australia’s Leftist government removed him as architect before the design was realized.
The wood interior slats speak of native Australian architecture, while the white sails remind one of the European landing on Australia’s shores. The structure takes on a spiritual level in this way, as the music appears to shape the form of the music hall in a communal, spherical movement.
This building also marks a turning point for Modernism. The humane design gestures toward the beautiful harbor and bridge, rather than grandstand as some great piece of art. Architecture focused on more than a contrived program of functions. It spoke to the essential human condition. Unfortunately Modernism today has walked back on this progress today.
Innovative construction techniques pushed the limit, such as epoxy resins in concrete joints that had never been used before. This project catapulted Arup as the premiere engineering group, and solidified engineering’s relationship with architecture. The organization of building projects around the world also changed, as architects sought to avoid the falling-out that the opera house saw with its contractors.
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