When Associate Professor Antony Moulis, UQ School of Architecture’s Director of Research, came across a collection of letters in a Parisian archive in 2006, he had no idea that he had uncovered the first tangible link between two of the world’s most influential architects.
While researching the work of world-famous architect Le Corbusier, Associate Professor Moulis entered the keyword search for ‘Australia’ hoping to find a connection between Le Corbusier and the antipodes. This pivotal choice revealed the correspondence, which was addressed to Le Corbusier from Jørn Utzon, concerning a tapestry Utzon had recently commissioned from Le Corbusier to decorate his latest building. What really piqued Associate Professor Moulis’s interest, however, was that the building in question was the Sydney Opera House, and that Utzon was at this point only a fledgling Danish architect, while Le Corbusier was regarded as one of the most revolutionary architects of the 20th century.
