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
| Sep 21, 2022
Demand for design services accelerates
Demand for design services from U.S. architecture firms grew at an accelerated pace in August, according to a new report today from The American Institute of Architects (AIA).
K-12 Schools | Sep 21, 2022
Architecture that invites everyone to dance
If “diversity” is being invited to the party in education facilities, “inclusivity” is being asked to dance, writes Emily Pierson-Brown, People Culture Manager with Perkins Eastman.
| Sep 20, 2022
NIBS develops implementation plan for digital transformation of built environment
The National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) says it has developed an implementation and launch plan for a sweeping digital transformation of the built environment.
| Sep 20, 2022
New Long Beach office building reflects Mid-Century Modern garden-style motif
The new Long Beach, Calif., headquarters of Laserfiche, a provider of intelligent content management and business process automation software, was built on a brownfield parcel previously considered undevelopable.
| Sep 19, 2022
New York City construction site inspections, enforcement found ‘inadequate’
A new report by the New York State Comptroller found that New York City construction site inspections and regulation enforcement need improvement.
| Sep 16, 2022
Fairfax County, Va., considers impactful code change to reduce flood risk
Fairfax County, Va., in the Washington, D.C., metro region is considering a major code change to reduce the risk from floods.
Multifamily Housing | Sep 15, 2022
Heat Pumps in Multifamily Projects
RMI's Lacey Tan gives the basics of heat pumps and how they can reduce energy costs and carbon emissions in apartment projects.
| Sep 15, 2022
Monthly construction input prices dip in August
Construction input prices decreased 1.4% in August compared to the previous month, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Producer Price Index data released today.
| Sep 15, 2022
First LEED Platinum, net zero and net zero water synagogue opens
Kol Emeth Center, the world’s first LEED Platinum, net zero and net zero water synagogue, opened recently in Palo Alto, Calif.
| Sep 14, 2022
Fires on Amazon warehouse roofs seemingly caused by faulty PV installations
Amazon has made installing solar panels on rooftops a key part of its ESG strategy, but a series of events last year show how challenging greening up major facilities can be.