Jan Utzon (born 1944) is a Danish architect. The son of

Jørn Utzon Jørn Oberg Utzon, , Hon. FAIA (; 9 April 191829 November 2008) was a Danish architect. He was most notable for designing the Sydney Opera House in Australia, completed in 1973. When it was declared a World Heritage Site on 28 June 2007, Utzon ...

, with whom he worked closely on several prestigious projects, he has completed a number of fine works of his own including the Performing Arts Centre in

Esbjerg Esbjerg (, ) is a seaport town and seat of Esbjerg Municipality on the west coast of the Jutland peninsula in southwest Denmark. By road, it is west of Kolding and southwest of Aarhus. With an urban population of 71,698 (1 January 2022)

."Jan Utzon"
''Den Store Danske''. Retrieved 6 October 2011.

Early life

Born on 27 September 1944 in Stockholm, Utzon was brought up first at Hellebæk near

Helsingør Helsingør ( , ; sv, Helsingör), classically known in English as Elsinore ( ), is a city in eastern Denmark. Helsingør Municipality had a population of 62,686 on 1 January 2018. Helsingør and Helsingborg in Sweden together form the northe ...

in the north of

Zealand Zealand ( da, Sjælland ) at 7,031 km2 is the largest and most populous island in Denmark proper (thus excluding Greenland and Disko Island, which are larger in size). Zealand had a population of 2,319,705 on 1 January 2020. It is th ...

until the family moved to Australia in 1957. He studied at the

School of Architecture This is a list of architecture schools at colleges and universities around the world. An architecture school (also known as a school of architecture or college of architecture), is an institution specializing in architectural education. Africa ...

in Sydney (1964–66) and at the

Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts ( da, Det Kongelige Danske Kunstakademi - Billedkunst Skolerne) has provided education in the arts for more than 250 years, playing its part in the development of the art of Denmark. History The Royal Dan ...

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

(1966–1970).

Career

Deeply influenced by his father's approach to architecture, Jan Utzon soon began to collaborate with him taking on key supervisory tasks in major projects such as the

Kuwait National Assembly Building The Kuwait National Assembly Building is the legislative building that houses the National Assembly of Kuwait. Designed by Danish architect Jørn Utzon in 1972, it was completed in 1982 under the direction of his son Jan. The structural design ...

. In many cases, it is difficult to estimate to division of responsibility in projects undertaken by Utzon Associates where Jan worked both with his father and his brother

Kim Kim or KIM may refer to: Names * Kim (given name) * Kim (surname) ** Kim (Korean surname) *** Kim family (disambiguation), several dynasties **** Kim family (North Korea), the rulers of North Korea since Kim Il-sung in 1948 ** Kim, Vietnamese ...

. These include the

Paustian House Paustian House ( da, Paustians Hus) is a large furniture showroom located on the waterfront in Copenhagen. Completed in 1987, it is one of the most notable works in Denmark by prize-winning architect Jørn Utzon, who also designed the Sydney Opera ...

in Copenhagen and the Skagen Odde Nature Centre in the north of

Jutland Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...

. Jan also set up his own design office on

Funen Funen ( da, Fyn, ), with an area of , is the third-largest island of Denmark, after Zealand and Vendsyssel-Thy. It is the 165th-largest island in the world. It is located in the central part of the country and has a population of 469,947 as o ...

where he authored many interesting projects. One of his most successful is the Performing Arts Centre in

(1997) with its theatre and concert hall combined with the earlier art museum. Its large communal foyer catering both to the concert hall and the museum is particularly appealing and was achieved on a modest budget."Jan Utzon"
''Kustindeks Danmark & Weilbachskunstnerleksikon''. Retrieved 6 October 2011. Utzon Architects and Johnson Pilton Walker, Architects in collaboration, have explored options to improve the existing Opera Theatre at the Sydney Opera House. Utzon has also been active in the developing countries. Working for

Tvind Tvind is the informal name of a confederation of private schools, humanitarian organizations, and businesses, founded as an alternative education school in Denmark circa 1970. The organization is controversial in Denmark, where it runs a number ...

, he built the Shamva,

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

, headquarters for the Humana People to People organisation, as well as a large training and conference centre at San Juan de las Pulgas near Ensenada in Mexico's

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

(2008). File:Utzon paustian interior.jpg, Paustian House, Copenhagen, in collaboration with Jørn Utzon and Kim Utzon File:Keld Gydum-IMG 9868 skagen odde naturcenter cropped.jpg, Skagen Odde Nature Centre, North Jutland, in collaboration with Jørn Utzon

References

External links

*
Photos of TG Pacifico
the Utzon-designed headquarters for the controversial Tvind Teachers Group, located 30 miles south of Ensenada on Mexico's Baja Peninsula. {{DEFAULTSORT:Utzon, Jan 1944 births 20th-century Danish architects 21st-century Danish architects Modernist architects from Denmark Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts alumni Living people