My Country and My People and Sydney Opera House: the missing link

Abstract

It is known that Jørn Utzon (1918–2008), the principal architect for the Sydney Opera House project (1957–66), had a lifetime obsession for Chinese art and architecture. However, previous studies did not explore the relationship between Utzon and his venerated Chinese writer Lin Yutang (1895–1976). How Utzon represented the ideas and ideals he received from Lin Yutang׳s conceptualization of Chinese art and architecture in My Country and My People (1935) has not been systematically documented. To this end, this article examines the role of Lin Yutang׳s work in Utzon׳s architectural career generally and the architect׳s Sydney Opera House design in particular. It argues that My Country and My People nurtured young Utzon׳s own architectural philosophy, as reflected in his early manifestoes and design projects. Eventually, Lin Yutang׳s Chinese aesthetics encapsulated in calligraphy, painting and architecture helped Utzon to initiate, articulate and further communicate the design principles of his Sydney Opera House, as well as several other important architectural works before and after. Although Utzon never fully realized his Opera House due to forced resignation in 1966, the inspiration from Lin Yutang vividly remains in Utzon׳s yet to be finished masterpiece.