Jørn Utzon's saga with the Sydney Opera house coming to the big screen
20/06/2016.
Utzon, The Man Behind the Opera House
metalocus, JOSÉ JUAN BARBA
metalocus, JOSÉ JUAN BARBA
We all know and we all love but what was behind the building of the Sydney Opera House? A new film tells us.
‘Made possible by fiendishly complex maths’ ... Sydney Opera House under construction in 1966. Photograph: Robert Baudin for Hornibrook Ltd, courtesy Australian Air Photos
Exterior view. Sydney Opera House, 2005, by Jørn Utzon. Photograph from CCAustralia.
Jørn Utzon. Jørn Utzon, 1965 (printed 2006) by Jozef Vissel Gelatin silver photograph (27.3 x 34.3 cm). National Portrait Gallery, Canberra Gift of the artist 2006.
Sydney Opera geometric base covered by Jørn Utzon.
‘Made possible by fiendishly complex maths’ ... Sydney Opera House under construction in 1966. Photograph: Robert Baudin for Hornibrook Ltd, courtesy Australian Air Photos
Jørn Utzon. records.
Jørn Utzon in front of the Sydney Opera House during construction, 1965. Image Courtesy of Keystone, Getty Images
Original plot. The Brown Book, 1955. Photograph © Robert Baudin for Hornibrook Ltd, courtesy Australian Air Photos
Original plot. The Brown Book, 1955. Photograph © Robert Baudin for Hornibrook Ltd, courtesy Australian Air Photos
Front cover. Sydney Opera House, Yellow Book. This 1962 report (commonly known as the Yellow Book) comprises plans submitted by Jørn Utzon and consultants. The Sydney Opera House plans include, in addition to plans of the minor and major halls, geometrical construction showing the shells of the major hall, details of precast lid, tiling on shells and development of shells.
Basement floor plan. Sydney Opera House, Yellow Book, by Jørn Utzon.
Ground floor plan. Sydney Opera House, Yellow Book, by Jørn Utzon.
First floor plan. Sydney Opera, House Yellow Book, by Jørn Utzon.
Second floor plan. Sydney Opera House, Yellow Book, by Jørn Utzon.
Lounge balcony plan Sydney Opera House, Yellow Book, by Jørn Utzon.
Hall floor plan. Sydney Opera House, Yellow Book, by Jørn Utzon.
Roof floor plan. Sydney Opera House, Yellow Book, by Jørn Utzon.
Elevation plan. Sydney Opera House, Yellow Book, by Jørn Utzon.
Elevation plan. Sydney Opera House, Yellow Book, by Jørn Utzon.
Long section plan. Sydney Opera House, Yellow Book, by Jørn Utzon.
Detail section plan. Sydney Opera House, Yellow Book, by Jørn Utzon.
Geometric detail. Sydney Opera House, Yellow Book, by Jørn Utzon.
Geometry covers. Sydney Opera House, Yellow Book, by Jørn Utzon.
Conceptual drawings. Sydney Opera House, Yellow Book, by Jørn Utzon.
Drawing. Sydney Opera House from The Brown Book, 1955, by Jørn Utzon.
Architect Jorn Utzon (left) reveals his model of the Sydney Opera House, on July 29, 1957.
Entitled Utzon, the man behind the Opera House, the film will tell the story of the Danish architect Jørn Utzon, who at only 38 years old and relatively unknown won the international competition to design an opera house in Bennelong, in Sydney in 1957.
In March, Australian television documentary devoted to Peter Hall, who replaced the architect Utzon in the direction of the building work, starring his son Will Hall. At the end of the interview she was done to Jan Utzon (son of Jørn) and both sons of architects staged a cordial relationship with a hug.
It is now that we have learned that the Sydney Opera House will be part of the narrative basis of a new feature film. With the preliminary title of Utzon, the man behind the Opera House, will focus on the figure of the pioneer Danish architect who beat the conservative architecture Australia when he won the international competition to design a theater in Bennelong, Sydney.
It came as a celebrity in 1957 by the hand of the Prime Minister of New South Wales Joe Cahill, the Labor Party. However soon changed policies Robert Askin tables and seized power. Utzon bumped against infighting, jealousy and dueling power and corrupt budgetary constraints Askin´s govermment.
Utzon takes the decision to abandon the project in 1966, never to return, but would return 20 years later. He never got to see how the building was finished, but was declared as a World Heritage Site by Unesco in 2007, a year later die.
After his departure several demonstrations called for his return, but the Australian government decides to work in the direction of Peter Hall that had spoken in favor of Utzon. Years later stated that only accepted the project after approval of Utzon. But decades later his son makes harsh criticism of the performance of the Danish architect as the foundation or structure.
In 1995 an exhibition was held with the original drawings of Utzon and the public could compare both proposals. Peter Hall could never overcome the criticism and would end up dying in 64 years ruined and homeless.
The film will be produced by Swedish-Australian Jan Marnell and Australian producers Marian Macgowan and Peter Herbert, with Danish executive producer Ole Søndberg (Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), Swedish executive producer Lars Weiss, and a screenplay from Petter Skavlan, who wrote the Oscar-nominated 2012 film Kon-Tiki.
In March, Australian television documentary devoted to Peter Hall, who replaced the architect Utzon in the direction of the building work, starring his son Will Hall. At the end of the interview she was done to Jan Utzon (son of Jørn) and both sons of architects staged a cordial relationship with a hug.
It is now that we have learned that the Sydney Opera House will be part of the narrative basis of a new feature film. With the preliminary title of Utzon, the man behind the Opera House, will focus on the figure of the pioneer Danish architect who beat the conservative architecture Australia when he won the international competition to design a theater in Bennelong, Sydney.
It came as a celebrity in 1957 by the hand of the Prime Minister of New South Wales Joe Cahill, the Labor Party. However soon changed policies Robert Askin tables and seized power. Utzon bumped against infighting, jealousy and dueling power and corrupt budgetary constraints Askin´s govermment.
Utzon takes the decision to abandon the project in 1966, never to return, but would return 20 years later. He never got to see how the building was finished, but was declared as a World Heritage Site by Unesco in 2007, a year later die.
After his departure several demonstrations called for his return, but the Australian government decides to work in the direction of Peter Hall that had spoken in favor of Utzon. Years later stated that only accepted the project after approval of Utzon. But decades later his son makes harsh criticism of the performance of the Danish architect as the foundation or structure.
In 1995 an exhibition was held with the original drawings of Utzon and the public could compare both proposals. Peter Hall could never overcome the criticism and would end up dying in 64 years ruined and homeless.
The film will be produced by Swedish-Australian Jan Marnell and Australian producers Marian Macgowan and Peter Herbert, with Danish executive producer Ole Søndberg (Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), Swedish executive producer Lars Weiss, and a screenplay from Petter Skavlan, who wrote the Oscar-nominated 2012 film Kon-Tiki.
More information
Jørn UTZON
Jørn Utzon was a Danish architect, best known for making the project of the Sydney Opera House, and as the winner of the Pritzker Prize in 2003.
He was born in Copenhagen as the son of a naval engineer. He studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Denmark. He spent the years of World War II studying with Erik Gunnar Asplund. Then he traveled extensively throughout Europe, the United States and Mexico. On his return he established himself as an architect in Copenhagen.
As a result of the interests of his family in the Arts, from 1937 he attended the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Denmark where he studied under Kay Fisker and Steen Rasmussen Eller. After graduation in 1942, he joined the studio of Erik Gunnar Asplund in Stockholm where he worked with Arne Jacobsen and Poul Henningsen. It was then that he was particularly interested in the work of American architect Frank Lloyd Wright. After the end of World War II and the German occupation of Denmark, he returned to Copenhagen
In 1946, he visited Alvar Aalto in Helsinki. Between 1947-1948 he traveled Europe in 1948 went to Morocco where he admired the high adobe buildings. In 1949, he traveled to the United States and Mexico, where the pyramids inspired him. Fascinated by the way in which the Maya built skyward to be closer to their God. He said the time he spent in Mexico was "one of the best architectural experiences in my life." In the US, he visited the home of Frank Lloyd Wright, Taliesin West, in the Arizona desert and met Charles and Ray Eames.
In 1992 he received the Wolf Prize in Arts. In March 2003, Utzon was awarded honorary doctorates by the University of Sydney in recognition of his building project of the Opera. Utzon was ill and could not travel to Australia for that purpose, so that it represented his son in the investiture ceremony. It may not be present at the celebrations of the 30th anniversary of the building, for which Utzon was redesigning some areas, such as the main lobby. In 2003 he was also given the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize.
He was born in Copenhagen as the son of a naval engineer. He studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Denmark. He spent the years of World War II studying with Erik Gunnar Asplund. Then he traveled extensively throughout Europe, the United States and Mexico. On his return he established himself as an architect in Copenhagen.
As a result of the interests of his family in the Arts, from 1937 he attended the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Denmark where he studied under Kay Fisker and Steen Rasmussen Eller. After graduation in 1942, he joined the studio of Erik Gunnar Asplund in Stockholm where he worked with Arne Jacobsen and Poul Henningsen. It was then that he was particularly interested in the work of American architect Frank Lloyd Wright. After the end of World War II and the German occupation of Denmark, he returned to Copenhagen
In 1946, he visited Alvar Aalto in Helsinki. Between 1947-1948 he traveled Europe in 1948 went to Morocco where he admired the high adobe buildings. In 1949, he traveled to the United States and Mexico, where the pyramids inspired him. Fascinated by the way in which the Maya built skyward to be closer to their God. He said the time he spent in Mexico was "one of the best architectural experiences in my life." In the US, he visited the home of Frank Lloyd Wright, Taliesin West, in the Arizona desert and met Charles and Ray Eames.
In 1992 he received the Wolf Prize in Arts. In March 2003, Utzon was awarded honorary doctorates by the University of Sydney in recognition of his building project of the Opera. Utzon was ill and could not travel to Australia for that purpose, so that it represented his son in the investiture ceremony. It may not be present at the celebrations of the 30th anniversary of the building, for which Utzon was redesigning some areas, such as the main lobby. In 2003 he was also given the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize.
JOSÉ JUAN BARBA
José Juan Barba (1964) architect from ETSA Madrid in 1991. Special Mention in the National Finishing University Education Awards 1991. PhD in Architecture ETSAM, 2004. He founded his professional practice in Madrid in 1992 (www.josejuanbarba.com). He is an architecture critic and editor-in-chief of METALOCUS magazine since 1999, and he was advising different NGOs until 1997. He has been a lecturer (in Design, Theory and Criticism, and Urban planning) and guest lecturer at different national and international universities (Roma TRE, Polytechnic Milan, ETSA Madrid, ETSA Barcelona, UNAM Mexico, Univ. Iberoamericana Mexico, University of Thessaly Volos, FA de Montevideo, Washington, Medellin, IE School, U.Alicante, Univ. Europea Madrid, UCJC Madrid, ESARQ-U.I.C. Barcelona,...).
Maître de Conférences IUG-UPMF Grenoble 2013-14. Full assistant Professor, since 2003 up to now at the University of Alcalá School of Architecture, Madrid, Spain. And Jury in competitions as Quaderns editorial magazine (2011), Mies van der Rohe Awards, (2010-2022), Europan13 (2015). He has been invited to participate in the Biennale di Venezia 2016 as part "Spaces of Exception / Spazi d'Eccezione".
He has published several books, the last in 2016, "#positions" and in 2015 "Inventions: New York vs. Rem Koolhaas, Bernard Tschumi, Piranesi " and collaborations on "Spaces of Exception / Spazi d'Eccezione", "La Mansana de la discordia" (2015), "Arquitectura Contemporánea de Japón: Nuevos territorios" (2015)...
Awards.-
- Award. RENOVATION OF SEGURA RIVER ENVIRONMENT, Murcia, Sapin, 2010.
- First Prize, RENOVATION GRAN VÍA, “Delirious Gran Vía”, Madrid, Spain, 2010.
- First Prize, “PANAYIOTI MIXELI Award”. SADAS-PEA, for the Spreading of Knowledge of Architecture Athens, 2005.
- First Prize, “SANTIAGO AMÓN Award," for the Spreading of Knowledge of Architecture. 2000.
- Award, “PIERRE VAGO Award." ICAC -International committee of Art Critics. London, 2005.
- First Prize, C.O.A.M. Madrid, 2000. Shortlisted, World Architecture Festival. Centro de Investigación e Interpretación de los Ríos. Tera, Esla y Orbigo, Barcelona, 2008.
- First Prize. FAD AWARD 07 Ephemeral Interventions. “M.C.ESCHER”. Arquin-Fad. Barcelona, Sapin 2007.
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