The Sydney Opera House

And Jørn Utzon

The Sydney Opera House, designed in 1957 and completed in 1973, was designed by Jørn Utzon who was a Danish architect. Interestingly, this was the winning design in a competition which was won by the less-well-known artist, and became arguably the highlight of his career.

I was in Denmark a day in April 2023 and was able to visit the Utzon Centre in Åalborg, which is to the north of Denmark. I didn’t believe this would be as interesting as it was; the centre was not only dedicated to his work but also showed different aspects of architecture, how materials are made and designed etc. which I otherwise would never have seen/been exposed to. The exposé on Utzon, though, was truly remarkable - and I was so inspired that I needed to purchase a memorandum to remember Jørn, his work, what inspired him and how he brought his ideas to life. I even bought a Jørn Utzon pencil to remind me of the rough sketches he made in his sketchbook (which turned out to be very impactful and inspirational to other people).

Learning about architecure also reminded me of my brother. He wanted to be an architect growing up and I remember him bringing home the sketches of buildings he had made in his Technical Drawing class. I had a limited appreciation for it: all the straight lines, circles, angles. He loved it. I guess he was a boy.

And then I learnt about how different materials were made, and found it surprising what some materials are made of. We had used everything from rocks to coral to material made in labs. “We” here means us humans. I began to essentially have an appreciation for a different skill set and art form. As a medic, I find living things beautiful and interesting. I look at different fish in the sea, flowers in the rainforest, the patterns of the colours in the human iris and think, “wow that is just mesmerising”. I failed to see how anything inanimate could be seen as beautiful.

As I walked amongst jars filled with different kinds of nails I really couldn’t help but think what a waste of time, money and effort it was. Why on earth has someone spent money on an exhibit for this? Who on earth likes this - apart from, I guess, my brother.

And then I read more on The Sydney Opera House, how it came to be and the thought process behind it. Jørn Utzon essentially designed the Opera House to be mathematically and aesthetically beautiful and perfect. Actually, the intended design was never built due to reasons I may have forgotten. But I came to learn that each curvature, each design feature was intentional and fit for purpose architecturally. Safe to say, I left the centre converted into an architecture fan.

The salient message here is that each discipline has its merit. And disciplines which I may not understand the obsession/ fascination over may have a case for the wider population to engage in it as well.

I think it is important to persist with making your dream a reality, sharing it with the world, especially if you feel it will benefit the world in some way. The Sydney Opera House is beautiful. I’m so glad Jørn Utzon gave us a peak into what was going on in his mind. It was a beautiful addition to our reality.

Chelsea Stubbs

09/07/2024