A Puzzle in Washington, DC: The National Building Museum's Big Maze

The Big Maze

On July 4, the National Building Museum unveiled the BIG Maze, a brand new component to its annual Summer Block Party. This interactive installation has taken over the Museum’s historic Great Hall, inviting visitors to explore all its twists and turns without getting lost. Designed by BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group and constructed in collaboration with local construction companies, the glossy, maple plywood maze measures a towering 18 feet high and an expansive 60 feet square. The BIG Maze will be open through September 1, 2014.

Is a labyrinth the same thing as a maze?

Though the words are often used interchangeably, the answer is no.

07.2014 Labyrinth A labyrinth has winding, curved passages, forming a "unicursal," or one-way path from the outside toward the center. Walking through a labyrinth, you change direction often, but the visitor shouldn't get lost or confused as you wind through the space. Often the labyrinth is purposefully engineered so that it takes a long time to get to the middle, encouraging slow, meditative contemplation while navigating many twists and turns.

07.2014 Maze

A maze is filled with dead ends. Often there are puzzles that help you find your way and alleviate frustration, but the idea is to get lost a few times before figuring out the terrain and finding your way through. Two-dimensional mazes offer the ability to see the entire course at one time, though the hardest ones will take time to solve. While labyrinths are often seen as thoughtful, peaceful spaces for quiet reflection, mazes tend to attract those more interested in solving puzzles and facing challenges.

The word "maze" dates from the 13th century and comes from the Middle English word mæs, denoting delirium or delusion. The word "labyrinth" may date as far back as the 14th century, and derives from the Latin labyrinthus and the Greek labýrinthos, or, a building with intricate passages.

Ancient Times

Coins from Knossos with depiction of labyrinth, c. 400 BCE.

Photo by Tilemahos Efthimiadis.

"It is a confusing path, hard to follow without a thread, but, provided [you are] not devoured at the midpoint, it leads surely, despite twists and turns, back to the beginning." — Plato

In remarkably similar form, mazes and labyrinths can be found on artifacts from the ancient world; from the Bronze Age in Spain, to Ireland and India; from North Africa to the American Southwest. In these cultures — and many others — the labyrinth conveyed ideas about a meandering, perhaps obstacle-filled, journey toward enlightenment.

Man in the Maze, Pima art piece.

Photo by Jared Tarbell.

The Labyrinth of Crete is familiar to all lovers of Greek myths: a menacing minotaur — half human, half bull — was said to wait in the center. Herodotus, a Greek historian writing in the 5th century, described an ancient Egyptian labyrinth, noting that: "The Pyramids likewise surpass description, but the Labyrinth surpasses the Pyramids." Pliny, the Roman historian, also wrote about ancient labyrinths across Europe and North Africa.

The Tonoho O'odham and Pima peoples — from the desert region in what is now Arizona and northern Mexico — traditionally depict, in ancient petroglyphs and modern basketry, a man in the maze setting off on his winding path toward home.

We do not know why the maze and labyrinth appeared independently all over the world, but the pattern continues to be compelling in our own time.

In Greek mythology, the hero Theseus successfully traveled through the Labyrinth of Crete and slayed the minotaur with the help of the goddess Ariadne, who gave him a ball of thread, called a clue.

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