Utzon Symposium - 7th- 9th March 2014, Sydney Opera House

Catherine Bridge1, Greg Killeen2 and Satoshi Kose3

University of New South Wales1; Spinal Cord Injuries Australia2 and Shizuoka

University3

Building a universal design

legacy: What might Utzon do

differently?

Utzon’s legacy to Australia

• Utzon’s design objective was to bring

joy by providing:

– restful and dignified surroundings with a

generous spacious layout.

– a feeling of easier access

• Criterion (1): the Sydney Opera House is a

great architectural work of the 20th

century …A great urban sculpture set in

a remarkable waterscape, at the tip of a

peninsula projecting into Sydney

Harbour, the building has had an

enduring influence on architecture (UNESCO. 2007)

Image: Hand drawn personal correspondence between Jorn Utzon and Brian Suters, image courtesy of Brian Suters

http://thelockup.squarespace.com/storage/utzon3.jpg?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1288055845343

• Utzon was a young, healthy male

Diagnosed with wet Macular

Degeneration in 2000 eight years prior

to his death http://www.mdfoundation.com.au/the_ambassado

r.aspx).

• 1981 International year of

disability, start of deinstitualisation

social movement http://museumofdisability.org/virtual-

museum/media-wing/media-timeline/.

• 1992 Disabilty Discrimination Act -

legislative framework for equity in

access to services https://www.humanrights.gov.au/dda-guide-whats-

it-all-about .

Frame creation and organisational change: Sydney Opera House’s design (1956 to 1973)

Image: http://berkshirereview.net/wp-

content/uploads/2010/07/Joern-Utzon-unpacking-Sydne.jpg

• Most design has at its

basis the assumption of

sameness that is, that

human users are alike

(Matrix, 1984).

• Classicist design is based

around a conception of

the human form that is

embodied by a ‘able-

bodied’ man (Imrie & Wells,

1993; Knox, 1987; Sennet,

1994).

Whose joy – visualising the users?

Image: © Sydney Morning Herald, 2009 http://www.smh.com.au/federal-

politics/society-and-culture/even-icons-have-to-move-with-the-times-

20091117-ik8y.html

• In training and in practice Utzon

was familiar with modernist

architectural theory & practice -

“I like to be absolutely modern

and work at the edge of the

possible.” (Jørn Utzon, 1958).

• LeCorbusier’s “Modulor” is an

example for a political

unconscious architectural theory

and much modernist

architectural practice. A practice,

that unavoidably leads to (at

least temporary) exclusion of

(e.g. young, old,…)

people. (Siebers, 2008)

Design theory- unintended apartheid

LeCorbusier's Le Modulor - Body Proportions as a benchmark: 6 feet

high, male, musculous, without evidence of bodily or mentally impairment

Image: Siebers, Tobin: “Disability Studies”, Michigan Press ,2008; pg 86

A model of typical architectural

design problems

Image: Lawson, B. (2006) How Designers Think, Fourth Edition: The Design Process Demystified [Paperback]Figure 6>1, p 86

Zeisel’s user-needs gap model

Population ageing into the 22nd Century

Image:

http://resources.pihomebuild.com/sites/465/images/hands_on

_harp_2.jpg

Source: Productivity Commission 2013, An Ageing Australia: Preparing for the Future,

Commission Research Paper, Canberra, Figure 4, p 6..

Growth rates of the oldest is set to dramatically increase over the next 20 years

Disability – who is impacted when

exclusion occurs?

Image: Productivity Commission 2011, Disability Care and Support, Report no. 54, Canberra,

Figure 1, p 15.

Health and Disability Continuum

10/20

2/20

1/20

Mild-Moderate vision impairment:

Needs eye glasses, contact lenses…

Severe vision impairment:

Needs operation

Complete vision impairment (blind):

Needs assistance –

pension, device, assistant

environmental modifications

Seeing Functions

Image: United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific: Training Manual on Disability Statistics ,

Diagram 2.3 http://www.unescap.org/stat/disability/manual/images/Diagram2.3.jpg

• The Disability (Access to Premises-

Buildings) Standards 2010 aimed to

achieve better access to a wider range of

public buildings.

• Improving building access gives more

people more opportunity to access

employment, education and services,

and to connect with the broader

community.

• This involves taking action to ensure that

public buildings do not provide

unreasonable barriers to the

participation of people with disability.

Legislative alignment:

Discrimination + Building Code

Source:

http://www.ag.gov.au/RightsAndProtections/HumanRights/DisabilityStandards/Pages/Disabilitystanda

rdsforpremises.aspx

• Sydney Opera House began

addressing disability access in

2006. The first Access Strategic

Plan 2006-2009 focused on

getting people with disability into

and around the building via $38

million building improvements. As

a result, for the first time in 2009

patrons could enjoy mainstream

independent access to most areas

of the site including all Western

Theatre venues.

• The second three year Plan 2009-

12 focused on making the

experiences inside the building

more accessible.

Retrofit & Maintenance:A learning legacy

Source: Sydney Opera House AccesUtzon rooms Strategic Plan 2013 – 2015

http://d16outft0soac8.cloudfront.net/uploadedFiles/accessplan.pdf

Image: © Sydney Opera House

http://d16outft0soac8.cloudfront.net/uploadedImages/About_Us/Ve

nues/UtzonRoom_L.jpg

• Utzon Architects and Johnson

Pilton Walker, Architects in

collaboration, have explored

options to improve the existing

Opera Theatre at the Sydney

Opera House.

• One goal is “significantly

improved

accessibility”(http://www.jpw.com.au/Proj

ects/Cultural/SOH_OT/SOH_OT.shtml

– Utzon room

– Western Foyer

– New Opera theatre

– Forecourt and concourse areas

2013-2015 Access Strategic Plan‘Deficient people’ versus Deficient buildings’(Froyen, 2012)

Image: © Johnson Pilton Walker http://www.jpw.com.au/Projects/Cultural/Images/SOH_Opera_Theatre_01.jpg

• The Building as Symbol

• The Building as Sculpture

• Form and Function

• Orientation and Movement

• Counterpoint

• Additive Aechitecture

- Elements

- Pre-fabrication

- Geometry

• Structural Expression

• Colour

• Light

• Accoustics

Utzon’s Sydney Opera House Principles

The Building as a Symbol - Equitable Use

Source: Report of the Secretary-General to the 49th General Assembly of the United Nations

Image: ©Top City Photos http://www.top-city-

photos.com/images/Opera%20House%20Steps.JPG

• In "A Society for All" the

needs of all citizens

constitute the basis for

planning and policy.

• People with disabilities

are a natural and integral

part of society and…The

concept of "A Society for

All" encompassing

human diversity and

development of all human

potential, ….”

• Sculpture of dynamic forms

The undulating sculptural stone wall

that forms the ' back bone' to the

space is a more ... This gives the space

a living, dynamic quality .

• Experiences

Depend on the organization and

communication of our dynamic

relationship to space and the

environment. People need to:

1. determine their location within a

setting,

2. determine their destination, and

3. develop a plan that will take them

from their location to their

destination.

The Building as Sculpture – Perceptible

Information

Image: © Australian Brioadcasting Commission, 2009

http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/200911/r471371_2360174.jpg

Form and Function – Flexibility in use

• Possibilities for all types of

cultural performances

The notion of "adaptability" stands

out when Architects consider the

various adjustments that are

characteristic of accommodating

diverse users' abilities.

Thus, when users of all ages and

abilities are in environments that

save physical efforts and reduce

stress while accommodating

adjustments in environmental

setting, there is a strong chance

that such users may experience

less fatigue during comfortable

usage of environmental features.Image: © Down Syndrome NSW, 2009

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_wECfy8ampaw/Sww_2-

fi1NI/AAAAAAAABmE/wwcdI_1K7i4/s400/Opera+House+launch+012.jpg

Source: Guimarães, 2013, Interpreting universal design in architectural education: links between design

principles for application in socially inclusive settingshttp://www.bufetat.no/bufdir/deltasenteret/Veiledere/Trends-in-Universal-Design/2-From-accessibility-to-

inclusion/Interpreting-universal-design-in-architectural-education/

• Orientation in the context of

mobility is the individual

perceiving or knowing the

position and direction of their

body in relation to significant

features of the environment (Jansson, 2000).

• Orientation plays a fundamental

role in mobility as it enables

individuals to locate themselves

within the environment so that

they can navigate through the

environment without veering off

the pathway of travel or colliding

into objects (Yablonski, 2000).

Orientation and Movement - Low Physical

Effort

Image: © Sydney Morning Herald http://images.smh.com.au/2009/11/16/863674/utzon2crop-420x0.jpg

• Building and surroundings

“It is the interplay between the

building and its surroundings...

that is important.”

This means considering spatial

configuration and features that

enhance equitable human

experience to make it simple and

intuitive

• Contrast white with brick

and tile structures

"Contrast is created when two

items are different...for contrast to

be effective, it must be strong.

Don't be a wimp" (Wiliams, 2008,

3rd Ed., p 53).

Counterpoint - Simple and Intuitive Use

Image: © Sydney Opera House

http://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/about/photogallery.aspx

• Utzon, (2002) stated: "Something

of the naturalness found in the

growth principle in nature ought

to be a fundamental idea in works

of architecture.”

• The application of the additive

approach in the Opera House can

be seen in the tiling and shells but

in other contexts application of the

same principle resulted in a

crematorium where free-standing

walls could be extended over

time, a new brick being added for

each cremation.(Jenson, 2009)

Additive Architecture – Flexibility in use

Image: http://www.inside-sydney-

australia.com/images/Sydney_Opera_House_Shells.jpg

• Simple, easily understood

tour

“In the Sydney Opera House you

are aware of your orientation at all

times. It is important that each

number of the audience has a

simple, easily understood tour,

from the entrance to his or her

seat and out again.” (Utzon, 2002 p

67)

The principles “size and space for

approach can be recognized as

related to the needs of wheelchair

users and other physically

impaired people but this has

structural expression in any level

change” (Guimarães, 2013, p5).

Structural Expression - Size and Space for

Approach and Use

Image: © Accessibility At The Sydney Opera

Househttp://www.candoability.com.au/images/IMG_1486.JPG

• Two purposes - exclude

noise/reflect sound

For blind people the acoustics of any

space are crucial (Ryhl, 2003)

Hearing not only affects our physical

comfort but also plays a significant

role in communication (Rhyl, 2009)

• Person in back row should

have as good a sound

reception as in front

People who are particularly

dependant on their hearing also live

with an increased acoustic

sensitivity and a higher risk of

physical discomfort (Rhyl, 2009)

.

Accoustics - Perceptible Information

Image: Torodoidal sound reflectors

http://z.about.com/d/cruises/1/0/F/7/4/Sydney_Opera_House_04

1.JPG

• Vision …detect obstacles and

edges in the environment,

navigate towards their

destination and negotiate a

safe pathway of travel (Jansson, 1991).

• The environment should

ensure the visual comfort of all

users of the building (Bean,

2004) by providing adequate

stimulation of the visual system

and elimination of any bright

light sources that cause

potential distractions or

perceptual confusion (Bean,

2004; Ferronato, 2003).

Light - Perceptible Information

Utzon, 2002 on practical glare “my eyes can’tolerate white when I eat.” Sydney Opera House Design

Principles,, p 81

Image: © Sydney Opera House play

http://images.viostream.com/1194_123614_34448_00-00-00_2.jpg