For the past two years, the National Building Museum has put up a temporary mini-golf course for visitors to play in. But this year, they're taking museum-goers to a different place: a maze.
The maze was designed by Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) and is a precursor to an exhibit (set for January 2015) showcasing some of the firm's projects. To navigate the maze, people must look up. Cathy Frankel, vice president for exhibitions and collections at the museum, told the Washington Post that the museum's “ubergoal is that people walk out of here looking at their built world differently. We think this is sort of on the microlevel of that—forcing people to look up [as they try to find their way through the maze] will make them look at our building differently.”
The maze actually gets easier as you go along, with the walls starting at 18 feet high and getting shorter towards the end. Frankel estimates that it takes about 40 minutes to navigate the 3,600-sf maze.
Placed in the museum's Great Hall, the maze's location may actually make it more difficult to complete. The hall is more or less symmetrical, and the walls are fairly similar, so only those sharp enough to figure out if they're facing north or south will be able to determine their location in the maze from the features of the larger room.
Related Stories
Coronavirus | May 18, 2020
Infection control in office buildings: Preparing for re-occupancy amid the coronavirus
Making workplaces safer will require behavioral resolve nudged by design.
Data Centers | May 8, 2020
Data centers as a service: The next big opportunity for design teams
As data centers compete to process more data with lower latency, the AEC industry is ideally positioned to develop design standards that ensure long-term flexibility.
Coronavirus | Apr 30, 2020
Gilbane shares supply-chain status of products affected by coronavirus
Imported products seem more susceptible to delays
Architects | Apr 23, 2020
Take a virtual tour of Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House
Explore the building with Frank Lloyd Wright Trust curator David Bagnall.
Coronavirus | Apr 21, 2020
COVID-19 update: CallisonRTKL, Patriot, PODS, and USACE collaborate on repurposed containers for ACFs
CallisonRTKL and PODS collaborate on repurposed containers for ACFs
Multifamily Housing | Apr 15, 2020
Related Group picks Stantec to design and engineer Manor Miramar residences in Florida
Related Group picks Stantec to design and engineer Manor Miramar residences in Florida.
Coronavirus | Apr 4, 2020
COVID-19: Architecture firms churn out protective face shields using their 3D printers
Architecture firms from coast to coast have suddenly turned into manufacturing centers for the production of protective face shields and face masks for use by healthcare workers fighting the COVID-10 pandemic.
Coronavirus | Mar 30, 2020
Learning from covid-19: Campuses are poised to help students be happier
Overcoming isolation isn’t just about the technological face to face, it is about finding meaningful connection and “togetherness”.
Coronavirus | Mar 15, 2020
Designing office building lobbies to respond to the coronavirus
Touch-free design solutions and air purifiers can enhance workplace wellness.
Architects | Mar 11, 2020
S/L/A/M/ Collaborative grows significantly in deal with CBRE
The architectural firm acquires five of Heery’s practices and adds 70 people.
