Norway’s Oslo Opera House has a secret you can touch
How do you hide a secret message in public? First, create enormous dots. Second, place them on the roof of the Oslo Opera House in Norway. Third, repeatedly insist it’s absolutely not Braille.
The secret’s out. I climbed that roof and read the writing on the wall.
Artistic Braille can be tricky to read, but connecting the dots at the Oslo Opera House was unusually easy because of their shape, size, and spacing. Access to the art on the roof is by a ramp, and free.
Braille gives public art another layer of meaning and a touch of delight! May more communities around the world embrace multisensory art.
Jump to heading#Descriptive Transcript
Haben, wearing a winter coat, stands on a wide, sloping roof made of white Carrara marble. The textured surface provides grip under her shoes even though it had been raining minutes before. In the background, people walk across the expansive space under an overcast sky.
Haben: There's Braille on the Oslo Opera House roof!
The camera switches to a ground-level point of view. A white marble plaza appears beside the building. Starting near the edge of the fjord, the white marble roof rises invitingly in a wide slope extending across the width of the opera house. Many people walk up and down, taking in the panoramic views at different heights. Glass and metal projections break up the broad marble roof.
Haben: We're standing on the roof of the opera house. It's kind of a steep ramp. Go along to the wall of the roof, and there's jumbo Braille dots!
The camera returns to Haben standing on the roof beside a metal wall with large dots stamped into its facade. Some dots are raised while others are recessed.
Haben: Officially, this is not Braille. Officially, this is art representing the textile weaving process. But these jumbo dots, the way they're put together, feels just like Braille. So if you feel the dots, you will actually find letters.
She reads with her entire hand as each dot is several centimeters wide.
Haben: Like here it says Q, N, R. Maybe someone can explain what QNR refers to in Norwegian?
The sun sparkles on the bright blue fjord, visible over the rim of the roof. Haben and her guide dog Mylo stride down a ramp on one side of the roof. The ramp is smoother and has a gentler incline compared to the rest of the roof. Out on the fjord appear a wooden sailing ship, a cruise ship, and many islands.
Haben: It's an invitation to come and experience the opera house in the way that you can. Whether it's listening to music downstairs, walking along the roof and taking in the sea air…or reading a secret message.