Jørn Utzon

The architect of Sydney Opera House, Jørn Utzon was a relatively unknown 38 year old Dane in January 1957 when his entry was announced winner of the international competition to design a 'national opera house' for Sydney's Bennelong Point. His vision for a sculptural, curved building on the Harbour broke radically with the cube and rectangular shapes of modernist architecture. The building transformed his career and, in turn, transformed the image of an entire nation. Jørn Utzon was born on April 9, 1918 in Copenhagen. He grew up in the town of Aalborg, where his father was a naval architect, engineer and director of the local shipyard. A keen sailor, Utzon originally intended to follow his father as a naval engineer, but opted to study architecture at the Copenhagen Royal Academy of Arts. After graduating in 1942 with a Diploma in Architecture, he worked in Sweden until the end of World War II. Utzon was influenced by Swedish architect Gunnar Asplund and later Alvar Aalto, with whom he worked in Finland for a short period after the war. In 1949 he received a grant that enabled him and his wife Lis to travel extensively in USA and Mexico, coming into contact with some of the most influential architects and designers of his day, including those at Frank Lloyd Wright's school at Taliesin, Mies van der Rohe and Ray and Charles Eames. In 1956 the New South Wales Premier, The Hon. Joe Cahill, announced an international competition for the design of an opera house for Sydney which attracted more than 200 entries from around the world. After having won a number of smaller architectural competitions, Utzon submitted his vision for the Sydney Opera House.