Divided Loyalties: Peter Hall, Philip Parsons and the Dilemma of Utzon's Return

Abstract

When Jørn Utzon resigned from the uncompleted Sydney Opera House project in February 1966, his successor Peter Hall was faced with innumerable and inevitably controversial design problems. But one of Hall's greatest dilemmas was not design-related. With Utzon signalling a wish to return to the job in early 1967, Hall found himself entangled in negotiations to pressure the government to reconcile with the original architect. Identified by the self-appointed conciliation strategist, Sydney academic Dr Philip Parsons, as the key intermediary by which negotiations succeeded or failed, Hall was torn between his professional regard for Utzon's claim to the building, doubts over Utzon's professed spirit of compromise and the contradictory advice of colleagues and government officials. Drawing on newly discovered documentation in Parsons' papers, this article explores the ambiguity of allegiances with which Hall was faced during 1967, Utzon's vacillating overtures and the well-intentioned dedication with which Parsons sought to affect a viable reconciliation. A little-known sequel to the much-published 1966 resignation story, the complex interweaving of Utzon's apparently changed attitude in 1967, Hall's divided loyalties and the government's continuing intransigence contribute new layers to the Opera House narrative.