Abstract

The most accurate analysis of the dialectic between roof and mound present in all the work projected by Jørn Utzon was carried out by Kenneth Frampton, who recognizes himself as a debtor of the Gottfried Semper theory The Four Elements of Architecture. We cannot but wonder what happens in the work of Utzon with another element that originated the architecture, the enclosure. If we apply the Semper theory in the two most significant works of Utzon, Sydney Opera House and Bagsvared Church, we will discover that the cover is conceived from tectonic –but it is not built with wood–, the platform is conceived from the stereotomy –but it is not built with masonry–, and the materiality of the envelopes is conceived from the textile art –but it is not made with fabric–. Utzon identifies the supports, basement and platform, with the “Core form” (Kern form), and they are conceived from the technics, stereotomy and tectonic. And the envelopes with the “Art form” (Kunstform) and they are conceived from the applied art, textile and ceramic. We conclude that the work of Utzon is a dichotomy between sustaining interiority and significant exteriority, conciliating technical precision and artistic expressiveness (Baukunst).