Chapter 5: 1957, Utzon in Sydney
On the 29 July, 1957, with the reality of the opera house project more certain than ever, Jørn Utzon arrived for the first time in Sydney. He came with Erik Andersson, who had contributed to Utzon's competition entry. The tall, handsome, sophisticated Dane was seen as something of a movie star by the Sydney press, politicians and cultural figures. His visit was a glamorous occasion.
Utzon and Andersson brought the first model of the opera house with them. On their third day, they unpacked and prepared it for exhibition in the vestibule of Sydney Town Hall. Five days later on 7th of August, the Opera House appeal was launched at a public meeting. Within the first hour, 230,000 had been donated by the two and a half thousand people in attendance.
Premier, Joe Cahill, handed over 100,000 of public funds and 50 of his own. Fifty pounds would prove to be a popular figure.
At a fundraising party afterwards singer Joan Hammond sold kisses for 50, while Utzon donated 50 to kiss the cheek of the flautist Elaine Shaffer and another 50 to kiss the wife of the violinist Ruggiero Ricci. Mrs Ricci offered 10 to kiss the ABC's Charles Moses, who also donated 50 of his own. Kisses were sold for 50 at another fundraising party held two days later at a house in Lindfield.
The Opera House Committee, headed by Stan Havilland, had now become the Sydney Opera House Executive Committee, with two advisory panels established to help in decision making. The panels were organised by two of the Opera House's original supporters. Harry Ashworth led the Technical Advisory panel and Bernard Heinze convened Music and Drama.
At his first meeting with SOHEC, Utzon was given the advisory panels' recommendations for priorities of use and sizes of the two halls. These recommendations were an attempt to merge the guidelines from the competition's Brown Book with Utzon's winning design, a conceptual work of sculpture that had not met all the guidelines nor yet been properly assessed by an engineer.
Here, at the very beginning of the extraordinary effort to build Sydney Opera House began the misconceptions that would characterise the project in the coming years.
The tensions and contradictions in purpose between an architect and his client one in pursuit of architectural perfection, the other advised by committees unable to foresee the architectural impact of their demands would only increase with time.
However, in these first crucial days, Utzon's confidence in his client and his commitment were substantially strengthened.
Over glasses of Scotch, Cahill told Utzon to come directly to him if he had any problems whatever it took to see the opera house built. When Utzon immediately pointed out the passenger wharf running along the northern wall of Bennelong Point, Cahill, with one phone call, had it removed.
Utzon was also fted by Sydney society and even though he was not overly receptive to the attention and celebrity status bestowed on him, it added to the heady feeling of being an architect who had been granted an incredible opportunity.
With all the effort and attention given to both Utzon and the project during this first visit, he might be forgiven for leaving Sydney convinced he had the government's full support to pursue his perfect masterpiece.
On the 22nd of August, after three weeks in Sydney, Jørn Utzon departed for Tokyo, promising to return in March with drawings reflecting the advisory panel's requirements. These would become The Red Book.
