Unseen Utzon - YouTube
The Danish architect, Jørn Utzon was dismissed by the minister for public works, Davis Hughes he rejected the committee who were the client and Utzon. The contest requirements for the Sydney Opera House that Eugene Goossens (conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra) and Charles Moses (general manager of the ABC) had planned was that the major hall was to be used for large-scale opera and symphony concerts, and the minor hall was to be used for dramatic presentations. Utzon at the time when his modest office was on the building site intended to paint his acoustic ceilings in different colours red and gold for the opera theatre, and blue and silver for the drama theatre.
The minister believed there was corruption on the building site, because construction had taken longer than expected to be finished, and was costing more money than what NSW voters had been told about. The problem with this 3D animation is there's no pipe organ in the major hall, and it isn't really known how practical the acoustic ceilings would have been if completed. Theatres these days use acoustic panels to solve any sound problems in an auditorium (the acoustic panels can be designed to reduce the echo in a space), so as a result to improve the acoustics in the major hall stage machinery was installed above the ceiling to hold the weight of the acoustic panels, lighting and speakers, etc.
If the minister was true to his word, and was serious about spending less money and finishing the building in a shorter time. Then a cheaper option would have been to follow the contest requirements and have the major hall as an opera theatre with the possibility of having a smaller pipe organ on the left side of the auditorium, and to the right side of the stage. The major hall used for large-scale opera and symphony concerts, and the minor hall used for dramatic presentations. The two venues in the major and minor halls to have the same colours as Utzon had intended, and to be acoustically sound.
The 1956 contest requirements asked for:
Major hall: large-scale opera, symphony concerts, ballet and dance, choral, pageants and meetings.
Minor hall: dramatic presentations, intimate opera, chamber music, concerts and recitals, lectures.
The seating capacity in the major hall to be either 3000 or 3500, for the minor hall 1200. Today the Concert Hall (major hall) has up to 2664 seats, and the Joan Sutherland Theatre (minor hall) has up to 1507 seats.
Website: sydneyoperahouse.com
Quote from Utzon about Hughes rejecting the opera house committee
"Everybody has tried to write about this but, in principle, it is simple: he tore all this down and demonstrated very clearly that he did not want to continue what the committee had planned.
"He wanted the building to become his own, he wanted to be remembered as being responsible for this building and he made his own committee. He didn't even try to understand. He did not even bother because, for him, it was impossible. He just could not."
"He wanted the building to become his own, he wanted to be remembered as being responsible for this building and he made his own committee. He didn't even try to understand. He did not even bother because, for him, it was impossible. He just could not."
Quote from Utzon about Hughes dismissing him as an architect
"I have never said anything about this before," Utzon says. "I did not resign as many people have said. My contract was stopped. I had nothing to do with my departure. I was forced out. I had no choice. I was broke, I had to sell my sites. This is the way I was kicked out. He [Hughes] stopped payments; I never received any money from them.
"I could have continued but even if we got the money from somewhere else he, Mr Davis Hughes, did not want me [Utzon] to be there.
"I was not after the money, this did not matter to me. It was the most brilliant building any architect could wish to work on. But I had to pay my staff, and with this he made it very difficult."
References
"Utzon breaks his silence", Eric Ellis, Good Weekend | The Sydney Morning Herald, 31 October 1992
"In the Tart Shop: How Sydney got its Opera House", Murray Sayle reviews The Masterpiece: Jørn Utzon, a Secret Life by Philip Drew and Jørn Utzon: The Sydney Opera House by Françoise Fromonot, 5 October 2000
Unseen Utzon by Philip Nobis – YouTube
Summary
Jørn Utzon, the architect of the Sydney Opera House, faced challenges with the project's client and the minister for public works, Davis Hughes. Hughes dismissed the committee and Utzon, leading to a conflict over the design and construction of the opera house. Despite Utzon's vision for the building, the minister's actions resulted in changes to the design and construction process.
