In 1966 Jørn Utzon was forced to quit as architect of the Sydney Opera House before it was complete. Next week, the first new interiors he and his son have designed will be revealed. Louis Jebb reports

07 September 2004

It is a story of rare poetic justice: Jørn Utzon, architect of the Sydney Opera House, one of the most famous buildings in the world, is being invited to finish his masterpiece more than 30 years after political opposition and press antagonism drove him to resign with only its exterior complete.

When Mr Utzon left Australia in 1966 to return to his native Denmark, the commission had already been handed over to an Australian practice. Working to a revised brief, the new firm took seven years to fit out interiors which have never lived up to the sculptural promise of the opera house's exterior - that otherworldly sequence of giant white sails that seem to roll and fold, one out of each other, providing an unforgettable landmark in the heart of Sydney harbour.

[Remainder of article here]