MA|UA museum by TRIAS studio honors architect jørn utzon's legacy in sydney

renowned danish architect jørn utzon has left an undeniable mark on architectural culture, and his legacy is particularly pronounced in australia.

renowned danish architect jørn utzon has left an undeniable mark on architectural culture, and his legacy is particularly pronounced in australia. in 1957, utzon has been selected to design what would become the country’s most iconic building reflecting local culture and ideals: the sydney opera house. yet, despite the building’s status, there is no localised home for utzon’s work, and no place to display and interrogate his legacy. instead, his works are buried away across sydney. this rich body of knowledge is a valuable public resource, alive with thoughts and experiments. therefore, TRIAS studio proposes the museum of architecture | utzon archive (MU| UA) as a permanent home for the architect’s legacy — making it public, tactile and richly experiential.

TRIAS‘ proposed building consolidates and catalogues utzon’s archive in a single place. at its core, the design employs a series of elevated wunderkammer to store and display content, making it accessible to a curious public. on the other hand, it is situated on a slender wedge adjacent to sydney’s ‘goods line’ — a long, linear public space which transforms a disused railway line into an urban park. in order to compliment these uses, the MA|UA is open and permeable — drawing visitors in.

the architecture is comprised of three key elements: protective pillars which store and display archival content, a viewing sequence that provides opportunities for architectural encounter, and a clouded facade that obscures and envelopes — creating intrigue. indeed, the museum is a meandering path that alters its pace, proportions and spatial character to create rich, layered experiences. expanding on utzon’s ideals of counterpoint, the spaces pulse between solid and void, darkness and light. they compress to create intimacy, and open to provide respite and clarity. ascent is used to intensify experience, and relationships are constantly maintained with the scale of the body and hand.

all in all, the architectural approach of the MA|UA merges the two — often competing — trajectories of archive and museum: to preserve past knowledge and human creation, and to encourage contemporary thought. as a result, it uses the past to enrich the present and positions history as a cornerstone upon which new ideas evolve.