ABSTRACT
Controversies are seen as integral to many features of architecture practice, of design and use. Indeed Jørn Utzon who was awarded the first premium in 1957 after an international competition organized by the Sydney Opera House Executive Committee (SOHEC). The competition attracted the best talents in the world. Ove Arup made Utzon engage in a series of detours for the sake of new technological innovations. Denmark's strong craft tradition and smaller scale projects allowed Utzon to work like this. The Minister Davis Hughes announced Utzon's resignation in Parliament on the afternoon of Tuesday 1 March 1966. The Sydney Opera House was opened on 20 October 1973 by Queen Elizabeth II. To blame the sphere of politics or of Australian society as wholly incapable of understanding Utzon's genius would be as erroneous as blaming Utzon for being unable to understand the constraints placed upon the politicians. The controversy functions as a 'hybrid forum', a space of conflict and negotiation between actors.
