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The Secret of the Sails
LOOK • WONDER • UNDERSTAND
Are they sails? Shells? Alaia discovers the surprising everyday object that helped an architect solve the puzzle of the world's most famous roof.
📍 Sydney Opera House • New South Wales
The journey
- ⛴️Harbour ferryThe best first view is from the water.
- 🐚Count the shellsThere are 14 of them.
- 🍊The orange trickEvery shell is a slice of the same imaginary sphere.
- 🎼Inside the concert hallBuilt so music reaches every single seat.
🤯 Amazing facts
- ✨The roof is covered in more than one million tiles.
- ✨Architect Jørn Utzon solved the roof shape by slicing a sphere, like peeling an orange.
- ✨It took 14 years to build and opened in 1973.
🧠 What did you discover?
What shape are all the roof shells cut from?
How many shells does the roof have?