Labyrinths as Play: From Spiral Jetty to Borges Garden, the Art of Getting Lost
A feature on designboom delves into the playful aspect of disorientation created by labyrinths and mazes, tracing their evolution from ancient geometric designs to modern land art. It differentiates between mazes, which have branching paths, and traditional labyrinths, characterized by a single winding route. Notable examples include Robert Smithson's Spiral Jetty (1970, Utah), Alice Aycock's Maze (1972, Pennsylvania), Robert Morris's Untitled (Labyrinth) (1974, Philadelphia), and the renovated Borges Labyrinth in Venice. Franco Maria Ricci's Labirinto della Masone (2015, Italy) boasts 300,000 bamboo plants, while Paul de Kort's Waxing Moon (2008, Netherlands) alternates between maze and labyrinth. Studio Carraldo's DELULU (2026, Munich) incorporates movable walls, and Chris Precht's Parc de la Distance (2020, Vienna) suggests hedged pathways for social distancing.
Key facts
- Robert Smithson's Spiral Jetty is a 1,500-foot coil of basalt and earth in Utah's Great Salt Lake, completed in 1970.
- Alice Aycock's Maze (1972) formed five concentric wooden rings in a Pennsylvania field, intended to create panic.
- Robert Morris's Untitled (Labyrinth) (1974) raised a modified Chartres labyrinth into eight-foot walls in Philadelphia.
- The Borges Labyrinth in Venice, a boxwood maze by Randoll Coate, has reopened after restoration; it is technically a maze, not a labyrinth.
- Franco Maria Ricci's Labirinto della Masone near Fontanellato, Italy, opened in May 2015 with 300,000 bamboo plants and a pyramid chapel.
- Paul de Kort's Waxing Moon (2008) in the Netherlands is a crescent-shaped earthwork that shifts between labyrinth and maze with water levels.
- Studio Carraldo's DELULU (2026) in Munich uses movable jute partitions that visitors can rearrange.
- Chris Precht's Parc de la Distance (2020) proposed 600-meter walking lanes separated by hedges for social distancing in Vienna.
Entities
Artists
- Robert Smithson
- Alice Aycock
- Robert Morris
- Hermann Kern
- Randoll Coate
- Jorge Luis Borges
- Franco Maria Ricci
- Paul de Kort
- Chris Precht
Institutions
- designboom
- Fondazione Giorgio Cini
- National Building Museum
- Studio Carraldo
- Precht
Locations
- Great Salt Lake
- Utah
- United States
- Pennsylvania
- Philadelphia
- Venice
- Italy
- Fontanellato
- Brabantse Biesbosch
- Netherlands
- Munich
- Germany
- Vienna
- Austria
- Wiltshire
- England
- United Kingdom
- Washington D.C.