Jørn Utzon 1918 – 2008

Image Credit. Photo taken by Bjarte Sorenson. It is a Commons Image. Click on the image to show in a larger window.

The passing of Jorn Utzon may not mean much, but when taken in context with the image it falls into place. Jorn Utzon was the designer and Architect responsible for the Sydney Opera House, arguably the most recognisable structure on the Planet after the Pyramids.

Jorn Utzon (pronounced Yearn Ootsen) passed away peacefully in his sleep aged 90 in his home Country of Denmark. His story reads stranger than fiction.

When Melbourne was awarded the Olympic Games for 1956, it added further fuel to the fire between the cities of Melbourne and Sydney, the two largest cities in Australia, and the always existing rivalry between the two cities. Melbourne has always been the sporting capital of Australia as residents patronise all sports very well. In Sydney however, they like to think of themselves as different. After the Games were awarded to Melbourne, Sydney was quite miffed. If Melbourne was to be the sporting capital of Australia, then Sydney would compete as the cultural capital. Sydney already had a good start here as all those cultural events went to Sydney anyway. Opera was one of those and the only facility was the large Town Hall. The Australian Broadcasting Commission (now Corporation) was the National broadcaster, and the home of culture, no rock and roll for them. They hired renowned conductor Eugene Goosens for our national symphony orchestra, and performing venues were the bane of his life here. He persuaded the State Government of New South Wales to construct a designated Opera House and the site was selected at Bennelong Point, but it took him 8 years to finally convince the Government. When Melbourne got the Games, State Premier, Joe Cahill announced a competition for the design of what was to be known as The Sydney Opera House. The competition proved to be huge, and there were 750 entries, 450 of these from the three major English speaking countries, and from 50 Countries in all. A panel of judges was employed to scour the entries for the winning submission. There is a legend about the winning submission. Famed Finnish Architect Eero Saarinen was one of the judges, and he evidently arrived the day after judging had commenced. He found the entry from Jorn Utzon on the rejected pile, and was entranced with it, telling other judges who had already rejected it that this was far and away the best entry. Utzon’s entry did not technically meet the requirements of the rules for the competition, as his entry was basically just a series of sketches and drawings. Saarinen never stopped in pushing the case for Utzon and eventually the other judges came around, and Utzon was awarded the contract in 1957.

Utzon was already a successful architect in his home Country of Denmark, and had worked for Alvar Aalto and for Frank Lloyd Wright. His design was considered extremely radical for the time, and there was speculation that it could not be constructed to look like his sketches and drawings, and that because of the radical design, that costs would be huge. He had a staunch ally in the State Premier Joe Cahill, who cleverly got around the funding issue by saying that the project would be funded solely from money raised in the form of a lottery, called the Sydney Opera House Lottery, which is still in place today, and even at that time was the largest lottery prize available at that time and for nearly 20 years following its inception. Cahill’s Ministers for Public Works were Jack Renshaw first, and then Norman Ryan, with Pat Hills as his Minister for Planning.

Costs did in fact blow out, and for such an already expensive project, opposition politicians made daily play of the possibility for skimming those huge amounts in the form of corruption. Each accusation was most effectively dealt with by the affable Cahill and his list of further staunch allies in Government all willing to back Utzon with all they had. Utzon himself effectively worked at problem solving in the whole process, and was instrumental in finding new ways to use new materials for the project. He had to deal on numerous fronts, other than the architectural front, and he proved very easy to work with. However the main problem that plagued him was always having to justify himself to opposing political forces, and forever explaining the process. What those opposing politicians did not mention was that the blowout in costing had more to do with inflation that was running at around 12 to 15%, and the costs of materials was only going in one direction.

Utzon was dealt a body blow in 1959 when the Premier, Joe Cahill died. He was replaced by RJ Heffron, and as the inherent political stability under Cahill started to unravel, Jack Renshaw then took over as Premier. All the while the opposing side of Politics under Bob Askin was pressing home its points and the constant daily barrage took its toll now that the firm hand of Joe Cahill was gone.

Utzon continued with the work which was extending the finish date, more due to the complexity of the project than problems with the work itself. Utzon was still working at finding new ways to do the work with the new materials he himself had introduced, and in actual fact had found time management problems that actually saved time and work on the project.

In May of 1965 the Government changed, and Bob Askin now took over. For so long, he had been the leading voice in opposition to all things about the Opera House, which proved to be the means to his end. Now he was the Premier, he effectively handed off the whole project to Davis Hughes, his Minister for Public Works, (Later Sir William Davis Hughes)

Hughes had consistently and publicly said that it was his main aim to get rid of Utzon, and now he started to work on actually doing that.

Utzon also suffered from a problem that was not of his own making. Because of his citizenship in his home Country of Denmark, and his already large business back there, and his Australian project, he had to keep offices in both Countries. The problem was one of taxation. Australia had no tax covenant with Denmark, so Utzon was paying tax on his Australian earnings in Australia, and because they were considered as earnings, he was also being taxed on those same earnings back in Denmark. Utzon was already in the upper taxation bracket in Denmark, and also in the upper taxation bracket here in Australia. In effect, he was paying more in taxes that he was actually earning for the Opera House project.

Hughes saw this as an opportunity, and even though at the stroke of a pen, the Government could have easily solved the tax problem, they did not. On top of that Davis Hughes then delayed everything that came across his desk, calling for reports, plans, drawings and more reports, effectively bringing the project slowly to a halt. Hughes was in the position where he could not just sack Utzon outright, because of the immense Worldwide respect Utzon had, and if he sacked him, then it would reflect badly on him, and extrapolated out, the Government he represented. So, he just used these delaying tactics to stall the project.

Utzon persevered, and was still finding ways to get things done in a better manner. Because of the delays, Utzon was becoming desperately short of money, and his business and his family back in Denmark started to feel the pinch. In a meeting with Hughes Utzon asked for the outstanding amount of payment of 50,000 Pounds, around $100,000. Hughes stonewalled and refused to make the payment. Later, an exasperated Utzon wrote a memo to Hughes asking for the money he had now not been paid for his services for more than a year. Davis Hughes effectively took this memo as a letter of resignation, and at a press conference, actually announced this, without Utzon being informed. Thus painted into a corner, Utzon was stunned by this turn of events, and finally admitted defeat, leaving the Country.

Hughes, now having achieved his aim, then set about approving everything. The project now had to be completed, and he then proceeded to set about gutting the project. Utzon’s plans for the inside of the Opera House were extensively altered to achieve the cheapest result. The original and intended underground car park was shelved, as was the extra performing hall alongside the structure.

Costs just kept blowing out even further, much to the consternation of Hughes who now struggled at every turn. Hughes had won a political victory, but the whole World knew how Utzon had been shafted. In 1968 Hughes set in stone the final cost for the Opera House at $85 Million, an enormous amount at that time. When Utzon was asked if the cost was right, he replied that he could have built the Opera House to his original plans, with the Performing Arts Centre, with the underground car park, and still had Millions left over. The final cost blew out to $110 Million.

The Sydney Opera House was finally opened in October of 1973. Prime position at the opening went to Davis Hughes as the driving force behind the Opera House. Utzon was not invited and when asked said that if he was, he would not have attended. The opera House was plagued by poor harmonics in the large hall, but was still considered one of the World’s foremost Opera Houses. There was also a huge problem with parking as there was no effective place to park large numbers of cars in close proximity to the House.

Utzon never did come back, saying the finished House was not as he intended it to be. In the mid 1990’s The Opera House Trust set about restoring the insides to Utzon’s original designs. Utzon and a new Government long removed from the one that gave him such grief patched up their differences, The additional performing hall and underground car park were added later, at enormous added cost, and Utzon did not come back to see them opened either, as by that time, he was too frail to travel the vast distance involved. His son Jan Utzon still works at the Opera House, in the process of completely restoring the Sydney Opera House to what it was originally supposed to be.

This most beautiful of all buildings will still be a masterpiece of Architecture for decades to come. It has become a true icon when that word icon has become devalued over time.

Jorn Utzon is a sad loss, but what he first sketched in the 50’s will live forever.

FOOTNOTE. This version differs markedly from the entries in Wikipedia, and from other sources. However, this is the version taken directly from the detailed pages of the book “The Masterpiece. Jorn Utzon. A Secret Life”, written by Phillip Drew published in 1999.The book includes extensive interviews with all the people involved, and puts the views of Utzon himself, a very private man, for so long staying quiet on the subject, and even in the book comes across as a man not given to regret, remorse, or revenge. Those who contributed say that Utzon never held a grudge, and always knew the politics would be a major factor in the Project. His son, Jan Utzon, says that his father never needed to see the Opera House because it was with him every day. He only had to close his eyes to see the full image of The Opera House as he designed it.

Sir William Davis Hughes passed away in 2003, and to his credit, he never resiled from any of his decisions, saying he made them in the the public interest.

Tagged: Architecture, Iconic Buildings, Jorn Utzon, Sydney Opera House

Posted in: Australia, Infrastructure Problems, News and Views, Politics