Who designed the Sydney Opera House?
The Sydney Opera House was designed by Danish architect Jorn Utzon, who won an international design competition in 1957 with a bold concept of shell-like roofs rising over Sydney Harbour.
Utzon was only 38 when his entry was chosen from more than 200 designs. Judge Eero Saarinen, an American architect, is said to have championed the design, which some other judges had overlooked.
The roof shells proved extremely difficult to engineer. After years of work with engineers Ove Arup and Partners, Utzon found a solution: all shells could be formed as sections of a single sphere, allowing prefabricated concrete ribs.
Resignation and reconciliation
Disputes with the New South Wales government over costs and payments led Utzon to resign in 1966. He left Australia and never returned to see the finished building. A team led by Peter Hall completed the interiors.
In the late 1990s, the Opera House invited Utzon back as a consultant, and he prepared design principles for future changes. His redesigned Utzon Room opened in 2004.
In 2003, Utzon received the Pritzker Prize, architecture's highest honour. He died in 2008, a year after the Opera House was listed as World Heritage.
Did You Know?
Utzon's son Jan, also an architect, worked on later updates to the building.