Jørn Utzon

Danish architect (Copenhagen, 9 April 1918 - 29 November 2008)

Jørn Utzon (Copenhagen, 9 April 1918 – 29 November 2008) was a Danish architect.
Son of a renowned naval architect from Aalborg, at 18 he began to collaborate with his father designing boats. He enrolled at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen where he studied architecture.

After graduating in 1942, he moved to Sweden (because it was a neutral country during the Second World War) in Stockholm. He then left for Finland where he worked in the studio of Alvar Aalto, who, together with Gunnar Asplund and Frank Lloyd Wright, would strongly influence his work. At the end of the war he returned with his family to Denmark and opened his own studio. During these years he traveled a lot, especially in America (Mexico, United States) and Asia (China, Japan, India). In 1947 he worked for a few months in Morocco; the encounter with Islamic architecture would have a decisive influence on his work.

In 1957 he won the competition for the Sydney Opera House in Australia, where he moved in 1962 to better follow the construction site. After numerous problems with the client he was forced to abandon the project in 1966 and leave Australia. The project, which underwent numerous modifications compared to Utzon's design, was then completed by Peter Hall, David Littlemore and Lionel Todd. The Opera House was officially inaugurated on 23 October 1973 by Queen Elizabeth II.

From 1985 his sons Jan and Kim began to collaborate with him, and since Jørn Utzon retired they have continued the activity of the studio Utzon Architects. They were commissioned to follow the development and restoration of the Sydney Opera, and especially to design the completion of the interior.

During his career Utzon has received numerous international awards: he was elected Honorary Academician of the Academy of Drawing Arts and received the Alvar Aalto Medal, the Sonning Prize, the Wolf Prize, the French Legion of Honor, the Golden Lion in 2000 and, as a crowning achievement of his career, in 2003, he was the winner of the prestigious Pritzker Prize.
He died in Copenhagen on November 29, 2008 of a heart attack.
Source: Wikipedia…>>