Building a Masterpiece : ; The Sydney Opera House

Half a century has passed since Australia's New South Wales government launched a competition to give Sydney a new music and performance centre. The result of that competition is the magnificent Sydney Opera House designed by the visionary Danish architect Jorn Utzon (b.1918) and the starting point for Building a Masterpiece: The Sydney Opera House. When construction began, few could have imagined the enduring impact that Utzon's creation would have on Sydney, nor indeed Australia. But any great feat of imagination and ingenuity creates sub-plots, and the Opera House, perhaps more than any other 20th century structure of its stature, has generated many. Building a Masterpiece explores the many untold chapters in the long history of the Opera House's gestation, development and completion - of individuals whose careers were made or broken by the Opera House, the companies whose reputations were secured through their association with the building, and the pioneering construction methods, innovative technologies and methodologies developed to meet the demands of its unprecedented design and challenging construction. The workers who built the building, the politicians, architects and members of the public who championed it and its often beleaguered architect are discussed too as is its current world status as a symbol of Australia. Comprising an introduction and ten engaging essays, written by eminent authors and experts in the field, this comprehensive and richly illustrated book offers a unique account of the Sydney Opera House and is essential reading for anyone wishing to gain fresh insights into the complex history of this iconic building.

Anne Watson is Curator of Architecture and Design at the Powerhouse Museum. She has written and lectured widely on many aspects of nineteenth- and twentieth-century design. Her publications include: Decorative arts and design from the Powerhouse Museum (Powerhouse Publishing, Sydney, 1991) as a contributing author, Beyond architecture: Marion Mahony and Walter Burley Griffin in America, Australia and India (Powerhouse Publishing, 1998) as content editor and contributing author; Visions of a republic: the work of Lucien Henry (Powerhouse Publishing, 2000) as a contributing author; and Mod to Memphis: design in colour 1960s-80s (Powerhouse Publishing, 2002). Richard Weston is Professor of Architecture at Cardiff University, editor of the refereed journal Architectural Research Quarterly (arq) and director of the Richard Weston Studio design consultancy. His recent books include Utzon (Edition Blondal, Hellerup, 2002), the only monograph written with full access to Jorn Utzon and his archive, and Materials, form and architecture (Laurence King, London, 2003). His monograph on Alvar Aalto (Phaidon Press, London, 1995) won the Sir Banister Fletcher Prize, while Modernism (Phaidon Press, London, 1996) received the International Book Award of the American Institute of Architects in 1997. His current research and design work involves translating natural materials into two- and three-dimensional images and forms using digital scanning, printing and manufacturing technologies; his next book, entitled Formations, will present this work. Robert Geddes is an architect, teacher and urbanist. He is Dean Emeritus of the Princeton University School of Architecture; LUCE Professor Emeritus of Architecture, Urbanism and History at New York University; Fellow of the New York Institute for the Humanities and the National Academy of Design. He co-founded Geddes Brecher Qualls Cunningham Architects, best known for buildings at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, civic designs for Philadelphia and New York, and first prize in the Vienna-South International Competition. He edited Cities in our future (Island Press, 1997) for the Habitat II United Nations Istanbul conference. Philip Drew, formerly a senior lecturer in architectural history, is a Sydney-based author and critic who has been interested in the Sydney Opera House since a secret late-night visit in 1962 opened his eyes to its mystery. He has written three books on it including an internationally awarded monograph Sydney Opera House: Jorn Utzon, 'Architecture in Detail' series (Phaidon, London, 1995) and most recently Utzon and the Sydney Opera House: as it happened, 1918-2000 (InSPIRE Press, Sydney, 2000); as well as the first biography of Jorn Utzon, The masterpiece: Jorn Utzon: a secret life (Hardie Grant Books, Melbourne, 1999). Other books by Drew include Leaves of iron: Glenn Murcutt, pioneer of an Australian architectural form (The Law Book Company, Sydney 1985) and monographs on architects Arata Isozaki, Frei Otto, Harry Seidler and Peter Stutchbury. David Taffs is a Fellow of the Institutions of Civil and Structural Engineers and the British Computer Society. He undertook engineering training with British Railways for four years, then joined the building contractor George Wimpey for two years before joining Ove Arup & Partners in 1964. Taffs initially worked as a designer on city centre developments, hospitals and universities, and on Middle East and African projects. In 1966 he transferred to the Arup computer department in order to develop software for engineering design applications. He became leader of the IT group in 1971, a post he held until his retirement in 2004. He was a member of national and international committees and associations that promoted the use of computers in construction. Matthew Connell is the senior curator of mathematics and computing at the P