“Sydney Opera House: A beautiful idea” exhibition at Utzon Center Aalborg

The exhibition “Sydney Opera House: A beautiful idea” is a new permanent exhibition at the Utzon Center in Aalborg that celebrates the 50th anniversary of Jorn Utzon's iconic design of the Sydney Opera House. The exhibition explores the background story of Utzon’s inspiration and original design intentions for the iconic building. The exhibition contains a collection of significant objects including Utzon's sketchbooks from inspirational travels and literature that formed the foundation of the building concept. The building's development and progression are further communicated through the original concept sketches, the competition proposal, architectural drawings, models, photographs, and films documenting the construction process. The exhibition design is deeply rooted in Utzon’s design philosophy that involved a detailed analysis of the opera house and his other significant work through sketch models and drawings. This is coupled with the study of the exhibition space at the Utzon Centre also designed by Utzon to be transformed to be an accessible and dynamic exhibition space. The design draws from elements that Utzon frequently used in his design approach; the platform and the sky. The platform forms a gently sloping floor in the space that allows for accessibility as well as responds to the fan geometry found in the opera house. The sky takes the form of an enlarged concept model that was used to create the geometry calculations for the sail structures that became the iconic opera house; visitors are encouraged to look up as well as look out to the Aalborg harbour horizon. The design approach responds directly to Utzon’s philosophy of honesty in materials and emphasis on craft through a tactile design that invites visitors to touch, sit, and interact with. Full 1:1 elements such as Utzon’s seating concept forms an auditorium space lifted with steel and timber columns to allow for workshop spaces underneath the tiered structure. The geometry is the direct result of extensive study and tracing of Utzon’s furniture models to create a 1:1 interpretation of the design manufactured in sections of cross-laminated timber. FSC beech is used throughout that reflects the original beech timber used in the opera house proposal. Within the platform, several interaction stations are positioned to encourage visitors to explore models physically with tasks to create the geometry for themselves. This includes an augmented reality installation that allows visitors to experience the full scale of the opera house from the exhibition space. Alongside the interaction stations are multiple photographs and drawings displayed on the surrounding walls that document a timeline of the design from inspiration, competition to completion, and realisation. These are further complemented with drawers that visitors are invited to open and experience original drawings, photos, and facsimiles for the audience to study in depth. By incorporating Utzon’s ideas, architectural style, and aesthetics physically in the exhibition space with an emphasis on a high standard of craft founded in Utzon’s visions, visitors get to experience not just visually from a distance but are invited to be physically immersed in Utzon’s universe.