Utzon: dwelling, landscape, place and making

This anthology is based on the Proceedings of the Third International Utzon Symposium held on 1st April 2012 in the Dar el Bacha palace, Marrakech, Morocco. The Symposium was a further development of the previous two Symposia held by the Utzon Research Center in Aalborg, Denmark and represents a collaboration between the Jørn Utzon Research Network (JURN), The Utzon Research Center and L’ Ecole Nationale d’Architecture (ENA) of Morocco. Morocco was chosen as the location for the event in recognition of the significant influence it had upon Utzon’s canon after his visit in 1949. He hiked through the Atlas Mountains drawing inspiration from the anonymous yet poetic hill villages still evident today. The impact of this experience was to resonate consistently in his work. The objective of the Symposium was to expose and discuss the paradigmatic framework that underpinned Utzon’s design methodology using the thematic frames of Dwelling, Landscape. Place and making as foci for this discourse. Each contribution has been positioned within these frames that form distinct yet interrelated chapters with this text. The event was attended by some seventy academics, students and practitioners from such diverse locations as South Africa, Tasmania and mainland Australia, France, Finland, Denmark, the UK and Morocco. The Symposium was led by Juhani Pallasmaa, Richard Leplastrier and Jan Utzon, Jørn Utzon’s son and collaborator. Additional contributors from Australia, Denmark and the United Kingdom developed the discussions through presentation of formal academic papers. These papers were published in occasion of the symposium, and the current anthology is a furthering and elaboration of the original papers. The presentations of Richard Leplastrier and Jan Utzon have been transcribed from audio recordings made at the Symposium. These verbatim recordings edited in collaboration with the respective authors. All texts have been peer reviewed and then edited by members of the JURN Steering Group and by Aalborg University Press reviewers. The Symposium Proceedings have thus been collected within this volume with the ambition of providing the reader with a coherent perspective of Utzon’s unique and humane approach to architecture and his wider contribution to contemporary academic debate.