1. Australia's Own Taj Mahal.
- Author
-
Hughes, Robert
- Subjects
ARCHITECTURAL design ,OPERA ,ARCHITECTS ,STRUCTURAL shells ,CULTURAL history - Abstract
The article evaluates the design of a new Opera House in Australia by architect Jorn Utzon. Utzon's idea was wholly sculptural and poetic. The Opera House resembles a grand metaphor, its unfolding shells echoing the wallow of headsails on the water below, and its mat beige and glossy white tiles responding to every shade of light in the sky. In Utzon's sketch lies a direct relationship between the eminent exterior shells and the interior acoustic properties of the opera theater hall. Architect Peter Hall, an admirer of Utzon, finished the unsolved details of Utzon's glass walls and ceilings. Hall and his partners settled into a less than complete control over the building. Today, the Opera House marks a watershed in the country's cultural history and was even named as Sydney's Taj Mahal.
- Published
- 1973