Jørn Utzon AC (1918–2008), architect, designed the Sydney Opera House. Utzon designed his first building of note, his own home in Copenhagen, in 1952. Just four years later he won the international competition to build the Opera House. He arrived in Australia with the plans in 1963. Construction got off to a premature start, and Utzon's brief changed at Stage 1. By 1964 he was in dispute with the government over his choice of subcontractors for Stage 3. In 1965 a newly elected government demanded detailed plans and firm timelines. Utzon resigned in 1966, after the Minister for Public Works stopped paying him, and went back to Denmark. The Opera House was completed in 1973, with interiors completely different from Utzon's models. He and his architect son Jan were appointed consultants in 1999 to ensure that any future changes would accord with his design principles. In 2003 he was awarded architecture's highest honour, the Pritzker Prize. The year before Utzon died, the Opera House was declared a World Heritage Site. He never returned to Sydney to see the Opera House completed.
Jozef Vissel's iconic portrait of Utzon was taken just before the architect withdrew from the project. To create the 'gull's wing' outline that inspired Utzon’s original design for the Opera House's glass walls, Vissel took about 30 photos of the architect's hands on the same negative.
Gift of the artist 2005
© Jozef Vissel
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