Aust. Architects May Face Ban

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31060, 16 May 1966, Page 14

Aust. Architects May Face Ban

(N.Z. Press Association—Copyright)

SYDNEY, May 15. Australian architects may be barred from international competitions because of a dispute over the Sydney Opera House, the “Sun-Herald” reported in Sydney today.

The dispute—between the New South Wales public works department and the Danish designer of the Opera House, Mr Joern Utzon—led to Mr Utzon resigning. The building is now to be completed by a group of Australian architects. According to the “SunHerald," the dispute will be discussed at the annual conference of the International Union of Architects’ international contests committee in Stuttgart this month. The newspaper said that the union had written to the New South Wales Government asking for information about the dispute. The “Sun-Herald” quoted a Sydney architect as saying that a possible reason for a boycott could be the lack of support Mr Utzon received from local architects. “Terribly Extravagant” The British conductor Sir Malcolm Sargent, yesterday described the Opera House as “wonderful, but terribly extravagant.” “It is obviously the most impressive opera house project launched in history,” Sir Malcolm Sargent said. “But it will cost the earth to run.” Sir Malcolm Sargent, who is

in Australia as guest conductor of the Victorian Symphony Orchestra, inspected the partly-built Opera House while travelling between concerts in Brisbane and Melbourne.