Danish architect Joern Utzon yesterday was honoured in Sydney with a state memorial service inside his iconic Opera House. Mr Utzon died in Copenhagen on November 28, 2008.

Traditional Aboriginal dancers performed a dawn smoking ceremony to commemorate Mr Utzon, who designed the heritage-listed building and died last year in Copenhagen aged 90.

Actress Cate Blanchett recited Shakespeare and Australia's ballet, opera and symphony companies filled the caverns of the concert hall with sound and colour, bringing the audience of 2,000 to their feet in a standing ovation.

"In addition to its physical beauty, the Sydney Opera House has also played a major role in the development of Australia's artistic and cultural identity," said Arts Minister Peter Garrett.

"The simple fact is the Opera House has come to be recognised throughout the world as one of the defining symbols of Sydney and Australia.

"As a nation today, we pause to say thank you to Joern Utzon for giving form to a shared vision for modern Australia."

Although Mr Utzon never set foot inside the Opera House, his son Jan said the building was his father's most important work, and a celebration of life.

"Australians have given him so much love and affection," he said. "His heart was here."

Mr Utzon won a 1956 competition to design the building and began work the following year on a distinctive design which featured the off-white 'sails' pointing towards the harbour.

But a storm of controversy over budget blow-outs and Mr Utzon's artistic vision saw him quit the project in 1966, and he never returned to Australia to see his revolutionary concept as a finished building.

The Sydney Opera House was included in the World Heritage List in 2007, with the committee saying the structure "stands by itself as one of the indisputable masterpieces of human creativity, not only in the 20th century but in the history of humankind."