IN FEBRUARY 1966, Joern Utzon resigned as chief architect of the Sydney Opera House.

Forced out by governmental and bureaucratic intransigence, Utzon quietly left Australia, never to return. When the Opera House opened in 1973, the architect was not invited to the ceremony, and nor was his name mentioned.

For too long it was as if Australia's most iconic building materialised by itself, minus its unfairly maligned guiding genius.

It is ironic, therefore, that Sydney recognised the passing of Utzon, who died in Denmark on Saturday at the age of 90, by dimming the lights on the Opera House's sails and flying the flags on the Harbour Bridge at half-mast.

Such honour was not accorded to Utzon's nemeses — the premier of the day, Robert Askin, and his public works minister, Davis Hughes.