ABSTRACT
Jørn Utzon’s Sydney Opera House serves as the starting point of an investigation into the interrelations between building skins and tectonics in museum buildings and the performative effects they generate for visitors. Using Gottfried Semper’s practical aesthetics as an investigative tool, a tri-partite development in contemporary architecture from tectonics, to surface aesthetics and finally to independent surfaces can be uncovered through the study of a series of cultural buildings designed by Frei Otto, Frank Gehry and Jean Nouvel. These experimentally directed architectural designs chart a historical lineage that takes its departure from Utzon’s Opera House in Sydney. If formally diverse, these projects share a focus on visitor experience and a keen interest in stage set design and theatre production.
