ABSTRACT
In 1957 Danish architect Jørn Utzon won the competition for a new Opera House in Sydney. The shapes of the roofs, originally drawn free hand, did not followed a well-defined geometrical or mathematical figure. At that time, personal computers did not exist, nor did the software packages for graphic representation and structural analysis. Thus, it was soon discovered that these “imagined” surfaces could not be analyzed, nor built, with the technical and construction means of the time.
Throughout the coming years, the engaged structural engineers at Arup developed several roof geometry approaches. Ultimately, the free-form surfaces envisioned by Utzon were forced to adapt to a well understood geometry, calculable and constructive, altering Utzon's initial vision.
If this building were to be built today, the course of events would certainly be very different. Given this assumption, a number of questions could then be formulated: Would it be possible to perform a structural analysis of Utzon's initially proposed competition free-form roof's geometry with the tools available nowadays?; Would this proposal be structurally feasible?.
