Some of the world’s most respected architects and researchers in design and sustainability will be among those attending a major international symposium titled “What would Utzon do now?”

The Symposium, co-hosted by UNSW at the Sydney Opera House, will explore advances in the design, delivery and management of architecture and the broader urban environment.

Designed to reflect the late architect Jørn Utzon’s diverse influences and attributes, the event is interdisciplinary, centring on four themes: Architecture, City Making, Political Economy and Heritage.

Utzon is best known for his public architecture, most notably, the Sydney Opera House, as well as Bagsværd Church in Denmark, the Kuwait National Assembly and the Meli Bank in Tehran.

“It is appropriate that the debate around Utzon should return to the location of his most significant yet controversial creation, 40 years after its completion,” says the Dean of UNSW’s Faculty of Built Environment, Professor Alec Tzannes, who is the event convenor and a leading architect.

“While the inspiration of his legacy is important, it is also important to debate the role of cultural production in urban environments,” says Professor Tzannes.

The keynote speakers are Vishaan Chakrabarti, Marc Holliday Associate Professor of Real Estate Development at Columbia University; Finnish architect and former Professor at Helsinki University of Technology Juhani Pallasmaa; and Liu Jiakun, Founder and Principle Architect of Jiakun Architects.

Professor Chakrabarti will also present a public lecture at UNSW ahead of the event, “A Country of Cities – Building Hyperdensity and Civic Delight”.

What:   The Fourth International Utzon Symposium (7-9 March) and the public lecture (5 March)

When:  Friday 7 March to Sunday 9 March, 2014 

Where: Sydney Opera House and UNSW CBD campus (Symposium) and the John Niland Scientia Building, UNSW (Utzon lecture, 5 March)

The event is a collaboration between UNSW Built Environment, the Jørn Utzon Research Centre, the University of Portsmouth and Aalborg University, Denmark.

For more information go to Symposium website 

Media contact: Susi Hamilton, UNSW Media Office, 0422 934 024