Background
The son of Jørn Utzon, with whom he worked closely on several prestigious projects, he has completed a number of fine works of his own including the Performing Arts Centre in Esbjerg.
The son of Jørn Utzon, with whom he worked closely on several prestigious projects, he has completed a number of fine works of his own including the Performing Arts Centre in Esbjerg.
He studied at the School of Architecture in Sydney (1964-1966) and at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen (1966–1970).
Born on 27 September 1944 in Stockholm, Utzon was brought up first at Hellebæk near Helsingør in the north of Zealand until the family moved to Australia in 1957. Deeply influenced by his father"s approach to architecture, January Utzon soon began to collaborate with him taking on key supervisory tasks in major projects such as the Kuwait National Assembly Building. These include the Paustian House in Copenhagen and the Skagen Odde Nature Centre in the north of Jutland.
January also set up his own design office on Funen where he authored many interesting projects.
One of his most successful is the Performing Arts Centre in Esbjerg (1997) with its theatre and concert hall combined with the earlier art museum. Utzon Architects and Johnson Pilton Walker, Architects in collaboration, have explored options to improve the existing Opera Theatre at the Sydney Opera House.
Utzon has also been active in the developing countries. Working for the Tvind concern, he built the Shamva, Zimbabwe, headquarters for the Humana People to People organisation, as well as a large training and conference centre at San Juan de las Pulgas near Ensenada in Mexico"s Baja California (2008).
