Jørn Oberg Utzon was a Danish architect, born on April 9, 1918, in Copenhagen, Denmark. Utzon is renowned for designing the Sydney Opera House, one of the most iconic buildings in the world. He was also the recipient of the Pritzker Prize in 2003, one of the highest honors for architects worldwide.

Utzon's father, Aage Utzon, was a ship engineer, and his meticulous attention to detail and function optimization in ship design served as a significant influence on Jørn's later works. Despite struggling with dyslexia and receiving low grades in school, Utzon attended the private Klostermarksskolen and later the Aalborg Katedralskole.

In 1930, Utzon attended the Stockholm Exhibition with his family, where he was introduced to functionalism and inspired by its light and transparent characteristics. This experience sparked Utzon's interest in architecture, and he went on to study at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts School of Architecture in Copenhagen.

After graduating, Utzon worked for a brief period with the architects Kay Fisker and Steen Eiler Rasmussen before starting his own practice in 1950. In 1955, Utzon won an international competition to design the Sydney Opera House, which became his most famous work. Despite its numerous technical difficulties and budget issues, the building was completed in 1973 and remains a symbol of modern architecture today.

Apart from the Sydney Opera House, Utzon designed other notable buildings, including the Bagsværd Church in Denmark, the Kuwait National Assembly Building, and the Melli Bank in Tehran, Iran. His style was characterized by the use of natural materials, the integration of landscape into his designs, and an emphasis on the function of a building.

Utzon received numerous awards and honors throughout his career, including the Alvar Aalto Medal in 1978 and the Prince of Wales Prize for Urban Design in 2002. He passed away on November 29, 2008, at the age of 90 in Helsingør, Denmark, leaving behind a legacy as one of the most innovative and influential architects of the 20th century.