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Product Description
Product Description
Jørn Utzon is best known as the architect of the Sydney Opera House, probably the world's most famous modern building and arguably the 20th-century's boldest, most important and impressive work of architecture. All his works – both the large and famous and the small and private – with their brilliant simplicity and honest originality, are masterpieces of 20th-century architecture.This book presents all of Utzon's buildings in more than 400 outstanding colour photographs taken by architecture photographer Per Nagel over a period of 25 years. Architect Vibe Udsen reviews each building and architecture critic Henrik Sten Møller presents a portrait of Jørn Utzen the man and the architect. Photographer Per Nagel has collaborated with architect Vibe Udsen for many years in publishing the architectural annual Living Architecture, which is distributed worldwide.
About the Author
Henrik Sten Møller is an architecture critic.
Vibe Udsen, an architect, collaborates with Danish photographer Per Nagel to produce the architecture annual Living Architecture, which is distributed worldwide.
Per Nagel, the Danish photographer, has been taking photographs of Jorn Utzon's buildings for over 25 years. He collaborates with architect Vibe Udsen to produce the architecture annual Living Architecture, which is distributed worldwide.
Vibe Udsen, an architect, collaborates with Danish photographer Per Nagel to produce the architecture annual Living Architecture, which is distributed worldwide.
Per Nagel, the Danish photographer, has been taking photographs of Jorn Utzon's buildings for over 25 years. He collaborates with architect Vibe Udsen to produce the architecture annual Living Architecture, which is distributed worldwide.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
Very early in his career, Utzon was fascinated by the courtyard scheme as a housing form. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Very early in his career, Utzon was fascinated by the courtyard scheme as a housing form. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
As the previous review makes clear, this is more of a 'greatest hits' than the title suggests, and I must confess I would have preferred more detail on Utzon's exquisite houses rather than yet more coverage of the Sydney Opera House, Kuwait National Assembly, Bagsvaerd Church etc. That said, the photography is superb and in the absence of Richard Weston's out-of-print 'Utzon: Inspiration, Vision, Architecture', it's probably the best available intoduction to Utzon's work, particularly compared with the prohibitively-expensive 'Logbook' series (although if you can stretch to it, I'd still recommend The Courtyard Houses: v. I: Jorn Utzon Logbook).
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This book is a real pleasure. The affection and respect of the author -- and the photographer -- for Utzon is clear.
It opens with an essay, titled 'Conversations'. This is in the manner of a record of conversations between Jørn Utzon and Henrik Sten Møller, as retold by Møller. No quotations are used around Utzon's words, but the reader can discern when Utzon is talking and when Møller is adding his thoughts, or just thinking aloud.
There is a charming account of the two meetings in America between the young Utzon and the great Mies van der Rohe: the first before and the second after the Sydney Opera House competition. (I won't spoil for you the amusement of reading this first-hand). I had not appreciated the early influence of Wright (with whom the Utzon's had stayed in America in the late 1940s or perhaps '50 or '51), but this comes out clearly, and is evident in Utzon's own house in Hellebæk (1952).
A plan and one simple elevation of the Hellebæk house are included in the essay, but it has no chapter of its own in the book, which is arranged in ten chapters: The Kingo Houses (1954-57), The Sydney Opera House, (1958-1966), The Fredensborg Houses (1962-65), Bagsværd Church (1968-76), Espansiva (1969), Herning School Complex (1967-70), Can Lis (completed 1974), Kuwait National Assembly (commissioned 1969) photographed in its original form before the post-1991 restoration of the Gulf War fire damage, Paustian Furniture House (1987) and Can Feliz (1991-94).
There we have two residential housing complexes, the design for a modular house construction system built only in prototype, a school house (now a home), two wonderful Mediterranean houses, a house of commerce, a house of worship, a house of national assembly and of course Utzon's magnum opus: a house for Opera and home for an Orchestra.
Each chapter opens with a page or two of text on the building, has a small selection of Utzon's lovely concept sketches, some plans and elevations. But the majority of the book is devoted to Per Nagel's beautiful photographs of the buildings, which are allowed to speak for themselves. This is not the book for you, if you want pages of detailed drawings (in the manner of Phaidon's wonderful 'Architecture in Detail' series). Only a few of the photographs are captioned. Most of the others can be identified from reference to the simple plans included.
Utzon, if not the greatest architect, is surely the greatest architectural genius who has ever lived. If you don't believe me, acquaint yourself with the Sydney Opera House (well beyond what is possible from this book's 'taster' chapter), beginning with an understanding of the site, including the view from the bridge and the city above it, the conception of its form, through the process of design development to the brilliant solution of the problem of the shells, their manufacture and construction and the Utzon's sadly unbuilt interiors.
Yet, to me, this book shows Utzon in his simplicity and humility, a true student of nature's Architect and willing to learn from the wisdom built by other people in earlier ages, and always mindful to build for the people who will live and work and pray and meet and sing and listen in his buildings, soaring far above the arrogance of Wright, the pride of Mies and the presumptuously prescriptive ideologies of countless lesser architects. He is surely more than the equal in his architectural gifts than the justly acclaimed Alvar Aalto.
The book is published by the Scandinavian house Living Architecture Publishing []
I give the book four stars rather than five, as it is let down slightly by a number of typographical errors and awkward translations.
But don't let that stop you from buying it, and absorbing yourself in it.
SJW
7.x.2009
It opens with an essay, titled 'Conversations'. This is in the manner of a record of conversations between Jørn Utzon and Henrik Sten Møller, as retold by Møller. No quotations are used around Utzon's words, but the reader can discern when Utzon is talking and when Møller is adding his thoughts, or just thinking aloud.
There is a charming account of the two meetings in America between the young Utzon and the great Mies van der Rohe: the first before and the second after the Sydney Opera House competition. (I won't spoil for you the amusement of reading this first-hand). I had not appreciated the early influence of Wright (with whom the Utzon's had stayed in America in the late 1940s or perhaps '50 or '51), but this comes out clearly, and is evident in Utzon's own house in Hellebæk (1952).
A plan and one simple elevation of the Hellebæk house are included in the essay, but it has no chapter of its own in the book, which is arranged in ten chapters: The Kingo Houses (1954-57), The Sydney Opera House, (1958-1966), The Fredensborg Houses (1962-65), Bagsværd Church (1968-76), Espansiva (1969), Herning School Complex (1967-70), Can Lis (completed 1974), Kuwait National Assembly (commissioned 1969) photographed in its original form before the post-1991 restoration of the Gulf War fire damage, Paustian Furniture House (1987) and Can Feliz (1991-94).
There we have two residential housing complexes, the design for a modular house construction system built only in prototype, a school house (now a home), two wonderful Mediterranean houses, a house of commerce, a house of worship, a house of national assembly and of course Utzon's magnum opus: a house for Opera and home for an Orchestra.
Each chapter opens with a page or two of text on the building, has a small selection of Utzon's lovely concept sketches, some plans and elevations. But the majority of the book is devoted to Per Nagel's beautiful photographs of the buildings, which are allowed to speak for themselves. This is not the book for you, if you want pages of detailed drawings (in the manner of Phaidon's wonderful 'Architecture in Detail' series). Only a few of the photographs are captioned. Most of the others can be identified from reference to the simple plans included.
Utzon, if not the greatest architect, is surely the greatest architectural genius who has ever lived. If you don't believe me, acquaint yourself with the Sydney Opera House (well beyond what is possible from this book's 'taster' chapter), beginning with an understanding of the site, including the view from the bridge and the city above it, the conception of its form, through the process of design development to the brilliant solution of the problem of the shells, their manufacture and construction and the Utzon's sadly unbuilt interiors.
Yet, to me, this book shows Utzon in his simplicity and humility, a true student of nature's Architect and willing to learn from the wisdom built by other people in earlier ages, and always mindful to build for the people who will live and work and pray and meet and sing and listen in his buildings, soaring far above the arrogance of Wright, the pride of Mies and the presumptuously prescriptive ideologies of countless lesser architects. He is surely more than the equal in his architectural gifts than the justly acclaimed Alvar Aalto.
The book is published by the Scandinavian house Living Architecture Publishing []
I give the book four stars rather than five, as it is let down slightly by a number of typographical errors and awkward translations.
But don't let that stop you from buying it, and absorbing yourself in it.
SJW
7.x.2009
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3 reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Four out of the ten houses illustrated are non-residential "houses"
23 Feb 2007
Format:Hardcover
I love Utzon's work, especially his own residence in Majorca. The man is a genius. From the title "Jorn Utzon Houses", I was looking forward to a book on houses that people live in. Four of the ten "Houses" in the book were 1) the Sidney Opera House, 2) the Bagsvaerd Church, 3) the Herning School Complex and 4) the Kuwait National Assembly. There are many beautiful, period color photographs by Per Nagel, a nice long "Conversation" between Utzon and Moller and clear, well printed glossy pages. Many of the high quality photos I have not seen reproduced before. I especially liked seeing the Bagsvaerd Church and the Majolica house in greater detail. The diagram of Utzon's "additive architecture" was informative, but most plans and sections were too reduced in size. There is a little information about each project, but not as much as an architect would like to have. This is a beautiful coffee table book and given the fact that there is little of Utzon's residential work in book form, Utzon lovers have no choice but to buy this photo collection. I would suggest coupling this book with the Utzon chapter in Kenneth Frampton's "Studies in Tectonic Culture".
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Waiting for the definitive book on Utzon's houses
21 Dec 2007
Format:Hardcover
Utter disappointment given the cost! Of the ten projects featured within this book six are actual houses as we define them today. The rest could be considered houses in the sense of being an opera house, a government house and a church house. The title is misleading, although much of the interiors of the institutional projects have a definite residential scale and detailing. Twenty-two pages of explanatory text in the form of an interview, and 98 pages of the remaining 220 covering residences. However, in the case of The Fredensborg Houses, all of the interior photographs, with the exception of one small photograph, are of the complexes club centre, restaurant and lounge. The books balance leans heavily towards the photographs and is lean on drawings. When there are floor and site plans they lack north arrows or scales. The photographs are labeled sporadically and given the small drawings it is sometimes difficult to understand where the photographs where taken. The book verges on being more a style book than a book on architecture. However, since very little has been published on this architect's work, except for the Sydney Opera House, it may have a place in one's library.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
L. Mark Taylor (Kingston, Jamaica)
3 Mar 2007
Format:Hardcover
What a beautiful book! You feel that it is a labour of love with every photo on every page speaking to you about the specialness of each building.
Utzon is a brilliant architect, one of that small group of twentieth century achitect's who speaks directly to our soul both through his few humanist writings and built work (people like Louis Kahn, Aldo van Eyck and Alvaro Siza among others).
Apart from the 20 page illustrated introduction called 'Conversations', the book is a large format book of exquisite full-colour architectural photographs. Ten buildings are covered each with basic plans and the occasional elevation, sketch or section which remain very subsidiary to the photos.
Unfortunately very little published work exists in English on the complete body of Utzon's output, and the few tend to be out-of-print, very expensive or difficult to get. This is unfortunate because the book under review needs such a supplementary text to give this overview of Jorn Utzon's architecture.
The best book for this currently available at a reasonable price is "Jorn Utzon: Works & Projects" by Jaime J. Ferrer Fores, published by GG in 2006, in their small format bilingual edition. Again unfortunately this is not presently available through Amazon. Each book is excellent but if you get both books you should feel satisfied. Separately they are like a meal without the wine.
Utzon is a brilliant architect, one of that small group of twentieth century achitect's who speaks directly to our soul both through his few humanist writings and built work (people like Louis Kahn, Aldo van Eyck and Alvaro Siza among others).
Apart from the 20 page illustrated introduction called 'Conversations', the book is a large format book of exquisite full-colour architectural photographs. Ten buildings are covered each with basic plans and the occasional elevation, sketch or section which remain very subsidiary to the photos.
Unfortunately very little published work exists in English on the complete body of Utzon's output, and the few tend to be out-of-print, very expensive or difficult to get. This is unfortunate because the book under review needs such a supplementary text to give this overview of Jorn Utzon's architecture.
The best book for this currently available at a reasonable price is "Jorn Utzon: Works & Projects" by Jaime J. Ferrer Fores, published by GG in 2006, in their small format bilingual edition. Again unfortunately this is not presently available through Amazon. Each book is excellent but if you get both books you should feel satisfied. Separately they are like a meal without the wine.
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