Quarrels galore on icon's future

YOU would think that with the death of Joern Utzon, squabbling over the design of the Opera House would come to an end.

YOU would think that with the death of Joern Utzon, squabbling over the design of the Opera House would come to an end.

In fact, it's hardly begun and in the manner of great debates, it's now cross-generational.

Just weeks ago, Utzon's son and grandson were squabbling over the planned renovations, the cost of which is estimated at $800million. The NSW and federal governments have not committed to the project; neither Kevin Rudd nor NSW Premier Nathan Rees were sufficiently moved by the death of the architect to put up the money.

Sydney Opera House Trust chief executive Richard Evans said yesterday that he hoped the renovations would proceed. The plans, which include the Western Foyers Project to improve access to the box office and foyers, were approved by Utzon before his death. His son, Jan, is working on the projects with Australian architect Richard Johnson.

Mr Evans made the point yesterday that buildings designed 50 years ago naturally need to be modernised. He said the Opera House, in which there are performances every day, contributed $300 million a year to the economy. Its value as a symbol, and as advertising was incalculable.

Mr Evans was recently in Denmark, where he sat for 40 minutes with Utzon in his "modest apartment" surrounded by Opera House memorabilia. At the end of the visit, he said Utzon "embraced me and he whispered in my ear: 'No tears'."

"He had a deep affection for this building," Mr Evans said.

Mr Rees said his Government would consider the bill for the renovations as part of its budget planning. "We recognise the iconic nature of the building," he said. "There is no question that the interior needs some work for provision of disabled access, and refitting generally.

"It may cost up to $800million," he said, adding that it was under "active consideration". But, Mr Rees said, it was "inappropriate to use the passing of Utzon" to press for money.

Jan Utzon and his son, Jeppe, are said to be in dispute over the plans. "It's getting messed up (by other architects)," Jeppe Utzon told architectural webzine Building Design of the planned renovations. "It will be hard to distinguish who did what. It's strange they said yes to it."

But Jan said his son was "not involved in our projects for the Opera House and cannot possibly have any idea of how we work or what our aims are or even what we are doing".

Architect Ken Woolley has said it would be cheaper to build another Opera House nearby. That idea was rejected by Sydney's self-appointed arbiter of public projects, Paul Keating, and by The Wall Street Journal's architecture writer, Ada Louise Huxtable, who wrote: "A replacement? For a national icon? For a 20th-century masterpiece? What in the world is he thinking?"