Sydney Opera House
2013
This exhibition provides a unique opportunity to enjoy an insight into Danish design innovation in a building considered as the high mark of Danish design thinking internationally.
As part of the official 40th anniversary celebrations, the Sydney Opera House welcomed the idea of a Danish design exhibition to draw more visitors to the Western Forecourt and Western Foyer of the Opera House and support their mission that the House is for everyone. Accordingly, ‘Danish Design at the House’ is a free exhibition that invites the Australian public to step into a cutting-edge Danish design environment as the Western Foyer of Sydney Opera House will be transformed into an exhibition over a three-week period from 25 October - 11 November. The exhibition will brand Denmark, “Danish” and Danish brands in Australia.
The exhibition is curated exclusively to mark the work of Danish architect, Mr Jørn Utzon, and the 40th anniversary of the Sydney Opera House, which has had an enduring influence on architecture and structural design worldwide. The exhibition features a foyer and six window installations of timeless design classics from the Utzon era along with contemporary, innovative and experimental design.
The six windows are the hero element of the exhibition, paying tribute to Utzon’s renowned bay windows (the so-called Can Lis windows) each presenting a theme or characteristic of Danish design tradition, such as ‘materiality’, ‘craft’, ‘technology’, ‘human’, ‘pragmatism’, and ‘desire’.
Nord Architects Copenhagen contribution to the exhibition displays a Nordic sensibility that builds on the key methodologies of Utzon.
With a focus on subtle gestures and considered details, the proposal sees the installation of a shallow water basin within the window niche. Inspired by prominent Icelandic artist Finnbogi Petursson, the plane is enhanced by the introduction of underwater lighting and acoustic reverberations, intended to create vibrations in the water that will be projected onto the walls and roof of the exhibition space.
Within the waterscape, the assigned objects are to be arranged and composed on a series of individual pedestals and hanging systems. They will sit at varied heights, using small concealed pedestal stands at water level or the products prescribed hanging mechanisms.
Location
Client
Year
Typology
Status
Sydney, Australia
Danish Agency of Culture
2013
Exhibition
Completed
