Comments on: Critical regionalism – or critical localism? The Sydney Opera House and its context https://www.gardenvisit.com/blog/critical-regionalism-or-critical-localism-the-sydney-opera-house-and-its-context/ Gardenvisit.com Tue, 20 Apr 2010 06:46:14 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.8 By: Christine https://www.gardenvisit.com/blog/critical-regionalism-or-critical-localism-the-sydney-opera-house-and-its-context/#comment-1973 Tue, 20 Apr 2010 06:46:14 +0000 http://www.gardenvisit.com/blog/?p=4095#comment-1973 It seems most of Utzon’s professional admirers are the really good designers (who fully appreciate his virtuoso talents). The public appreciaton of his work, in aesthetic terms,was almost instantaneous and is widespread.

Although because of the common perceptions of the project many people (and the public) still largely believe 1) he designed something fundamentally unbuildable 2) he was largely responsible for the cost overruns 3) he was totally impractical.

None of which are supported by the evidence.

]]> By: Tom Turner https://www.gardenvisit.com/blog/critical-regionalism-or-critical-localism-the-sydney-opera-house-and-its-context/#comment-1972 Tue, 20 Apr 2010 06:33:45 +0000 http://www.gardenvisit.com/blog/?p=4095#comment-1972 But in a real fairytale, the hero would restore the health and happiness to the kingdom by inspiring other designers to an enthusiasm for the architecture:landscape relationship!

]]> By: Christine https://www.gardenvisit.com/blog/critical-regionalism-or-critical-localism-the-sydney-opera-house-and-its-context/#comment-1971 Tue, 20 Apr 2010 06:30:19 +0000 http://www.gardenvisit.com/blog/?p=4095#comment-1971 Perhaps so. Maybe the fairytale ends with Utzon being fully recognised for the design genius he was?

]]> By: Tom Turner https://www.gardenvisit.com/blog/critical-regionalism-or-critical-localism-the-sydney-opera-house-and-its-context/#comment-1970 Tue, 20 Apr 2010 05:40:41 +0000 http://www.gardenvisit.com/blog/?p=4095#comment-1970 Maybe that is what Sydney wanted and Utzon provided: a fairytale. This thought reminds me that architects, who have drawn heavily from literary theory, have not given nearly enough attention to the work of Vladimir Propp’s work on narrative structures. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Propp

]]> By: Tom Turner https://www.gardenvisit.com/blog/critical-regionalism-or-critical-localism-the-sydney-opera-house-and-its-context/#comment-1969 Tue, 20 Apr 2010 05:36:33 +0000 http://www.gardenvisit.com/blog/?p=4095#comment-1969 Comment from Christine: As all readers of fairytales know castles are also homes to princes and princesses. This dual function is perhaps best expressed in the saying ‘A man’s home is his castle.’
[ http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/8/messages/1239.html ]

]]> By: Tom Turner https://www.gardenvisit.com/blog/critical-regionalism-or-critical-localism-the-sydney-opera-house-and-its-context/#comment-1968 Mon, 19 Apr 2010 05:54:55 +0000 http://www.gardenvisit.com/blog/?p=4095#comment-1968 It is odd that so many castles are such welcome additions to the scenery if functional considerations were the dominant factor in their design. Second World War military installations look much more ‘functional’.

]]> By: Christine https://www.gardenvisit.com/blog/critical-regionalism-or-critical-localism-the-sydney-opera-house-and-its-context/#comment-1967 Sun, 18 Apr 2010 00:53:02 +0000 http://www.gardenvisit.com/blog/?p=4095#comment-1967 Yes I would agree. Obviously functional considerations played a role in selecting sites suitable for locating buildings within the landscape:

“In the early Imperial period under the Republic, two types of artillery were known: arrow firing euthytones (the ‘sporpiones’ and ‘catapultae’ of Vitruvius) and stone-hurling palintones of (the ballistae of Vitruvius), apparently allocated 50-60 per legion.”

D Campbell, ‘Ballistaria’ in First to mid-Third Century Britain: A Reappraisal. Britiania, Vol 15 (1984) p77.

]]> By: Tom Turner https://www.gardenvisit.com/blog/critical-regionalism-or-critical-localism-the-sydney-opera-house-and-its-context/#comment-1966 Sat, 17 Apr 2010 07:54:08 +0000 http://www.gardenvisit.com/blog/?p=4095#comment-1966 I have often wondered about castles. Obviously, their design and construction had to be guided by military considerations. But I think there must often have been ‘aesthetic’ and ‘landscape’ considerations as well – much as armour was made to be handsome and terrifying as well protective. I also think there was a carry-over from the siting of henges etc to the siting of churches. So the history of relating architecture to landscape is ancient.

]]> By: Christine https://www.gardenvisit.com/blog/critical-regionalism-or-critical-localism-the-sydney-opera-house-and-its-context/#comment-1965 Sat, 17 Apr 2010 05:00:56 +0000 http://www.gardenvisit.com/blog/?p=4095#comment-1965 Utzon did not explicitly respond to the style of the existing architecture of the city, either of the Georgian or Victorian era or the postwar Modernism. He did however, consider the formal relationship the Opera House had to other buildings in the city.

Utzon’s first reference point for the site of the Opera House was the Kronborg castle:

“It had a fantastic site, with a beautiful and demanding position on Bennelong Point.

This caused me to start on the project immediately, as I happened to live near the castle of Kronborg, situated in a similar position with similar surroundings between the two coasts of Denmark and Sweden, with the town of Halsinger in one side and that of Halsingborg on the other.

With Kronborg in mind I was convinced that a new building in such a position had to be seen from all sides, had to be a large sculptural building.”

Utzon Design Principles 2004

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