China Receives Utzon: The Role of Jorn Utzon's 1958 Study Trip to China in His Architectural Maturity
Both before and after his study trip to China in 1958, Danish architect Jorn Utzon (1918 2008) consistently cited dynastic Chinese architecture as one of his essential design ideals. This article commences with a reconstruction, using archival and anecdotal evidence, of Jorn Utzon's 1958 study trip to China with his close friend, the noted Norwegian architect Geir Grung (1926 89) The investigation seeks to explain both why, as a student, Utzon was so interested in the civilisation of China and how his carefully planned journey yielded Utzon both an intuitive grasp of ideas of Chinese architecture, and, most importantly, a continuing interest in China's traditional systems of building construction. The answers could add to a methodological and theoretical framework for understanding Utzon's work.