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In 1962, construction was completed on houses in Fredensborg for Danish foreign service retirees. Utzon helped find the site, then developed a plan that allowed each house to have a view of, and direct access to, a green slope. There were 47 courtyard and 30 terraced houses grouped around a square in staggered blocks of three, with all entrances from the square.

Because there was no comparable society as precedent, Utzon had to be inventive in integrating communal meeting and dining functions with private houses. Several guest rooms were needed; these became, in effect, a small hotel.

Other Triumphs

The design for the Kuwait National Assembly, completed in 1982, is described in Utzon by biographer Richard Weston. "The complex was conceived as an evolving fabric with, initially, ragged edges but of uniform height save for the representative spaces — the covered square, parliamentary chamber, large conference hall, and mosque — which would rise as a visually dominant group.

"These four major elements formed the corners of an incomplete but clearly implied rectangle, and the highest surfaces of their distinctive roofs — as specified in a three-dimensional sketch — were to lie in the same plane to create a 'firm strong grouping' to 'hold the rest of the complex (which in its nature is irregular as it grows) together.

"The mosque was flat-roofed and anchored one corner of this spatial core — it would later be angled slightly toward Mecca — and its autonomy was stressed by making it independent of the office grid. The other roofs were sag curves, reflecting Utzons's interest in fabric as a metaphor for concrete."

Since the early 1970s, Utzon has lived in semi-retirement with his wife Lis on the island of Majorca. They are now occupying in their second house there, "Can Feliz," nestled on the side of a mountain, harkening back to Utzon's love of the platform concept. The house has been described as a miniature acropolis.

The formal ceremony for awarding the Pritzker Prize will be held on May 20, 2003 in the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando in Madrid. Utzon is the first Dane to be a Pritzker Laureate. Past laureates include: Richard Meier, James Stirling, Fumihiko Maki, Christian de Portzamparc, and Glenn Murcutt.

Over the years, the Pritzker juries have done an admirable job of selecting and honoring the profession's true masters. With a few exceptions years ago, the Pritzker has honored major architects the excellence of whose works comes from beautiful integration of form, program, and style with material, structure, and construction.

The Pritzker Prize jury for 2003 consists of Lord Rothschild, former chairman of the National Heritage Memorial Fund of Great Britain; the late Giovanni Agnelli, chairman emeritus of Fiat from Torino, Italy; Frank Gehry, architect and 1989 Pritzker Laureate; Ada Louise Huxtable, author and architectural critic; Carlos Jimenez, professor at Rice University and principal of Carlos Jimenez Studio; and Jorge Silvetti, professor in the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University.   >>>

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The Kingo Houses by Jørn Utzon. Photo: Arne Magnussen & Vibeke Maj Magnussen One of the Kingo Houses. Photo: Richard Weston Photo Aerial view of housing at Fredensborg. Photo: Arne Magnussen & Vibeke Maj Magnussen Housing at Fredensborg. Photo: Keld Helmer-Petersen Photo Housing at Fredensborg. Photo: Tage Schmidt Photo Housing at Fredensborg. Photo: Bent Ryberg /Planet Foto The Kuwait National Assembly. Photo: Hans Munk Hansen Interior of the Kuwait National Assembly. Photo: Carsten Bo Anderson The Kuwait National Assembly during construction. Photo: Jan Utzon The Kuwait National Assembly structural detail. Photo: Peter Wibroe   Click on thumbnail images to view full-size pictures.