mazes – { feuilleton }

Underground labyrinths

Labyrinth (Westminster) by Mark Wallinger.

A mandatory post, this one, seeing as how it combines two continual sources of interest: labyrinths and the London Underground transport system. Transport for London commissioned artist Mark Wallinger to create something for the 150th birthday celebrations of the Tube, the result being a series of 270 different labyrinth designs, one for each of the capital’s stations. Needless to say, I like the idea, and it’s been interesting to see that some of Wallinger’s designs hark back to earlier labyrinths. The one for the Westminster station is notable for the way it references the famous Chartres Cathedral labyrinth (below)—a nod to Westminster Abbey, perhaps—and also features an enclosed and inaccessible loop, a possible comment on the irresolvable dealings occurring across the road in the Houses of Parliament.

It’s Nice That has more of Wallinger’s designs while Creative Review draws attention to an earlier maze design on the wall at Warren Street station.

Previously on { feuilleton }
• Cthulhu Labyrinth
• The labyrinth of Versailles
• Maze and labyrinth panoramas
• Mazes and labyrinths
• Labyrinths
• Jeppe Hein’s mirror labyrinth

The labyrinth of Versailles

I ought to have mentioned this last week since a plan of the lost labyrinth of Versailles appears in the William Henry Matthews book. The labyrinth was completed for Louis XIV in 1677, and is unusual for being a series of paths without a central focus, and also a very ornamental affair containing thirty-nine fountains with accompanying statuary which depicted the animals from Aesop’s fables. The latter were a suggestion of Charles Perrault from whose Labyrinte de Versailles (1677) these illustrations are taken. The etchings are by Sébastian Le Clerc whose map shows the route that visitors would have taken in order to visit each fountain in turn. The book may be browsed here or downloaded here.

The labyrinth was removed in 1778 but Wikipedia has a page with more information including some colour prints of the fountains, and also an English list of the fables depicted.

Continue reading “The labyrinth of Versailles”

Maze and labyrinth panoramas

Parc del Laberint d’Horta, Barcelona by Valentin Arfire.

Continuing the maze and labyrinth theme, a selection of panoramas at 360Cities. Panoramic photography helps when viewing these constructions at a distance, especially when the camera is centrally positioned. The selection may be small but it shows how universal the urge is to build these things, with examples from Europe, the heart of Russia (where we learn that labyrinths are called “Babylons”) and China. Some of the pages have links to additional views. There’s a plan of the Parc del Laberint d’Horta hedge maze at Wikipedia.

Granite Maze, Kirchenlamitz, Bavaria by Martin Hertel.

Centre of the labyrinth (4 of 6), Castle Weldam, Netherlands by Jan Mulder.

“Vavilon” (Babylon) labyrinth, Kandalaksha District, Murmansk by Andrei Kuznetcov.

Labyrinth at the Uithof, the Hague by Marco den Herder.

Beijing Old Summer Palace 4, Labyrinth in Yuanmingyuan by Yunzen Liu.

Elsewhere on { feuilleton }
• The panoramas archive

Previously on { feuilleton }
• Mazes and labyrinths
• Labyrinths
• Jeppe Hein’s mirror labyrinth

Mazes and labyrinths

This book, Mazes and Labyrinths: A General Account of their History and Developments (1922) by William Henry Matthews, would have been very useful a couple of years ago when I was working on the cover design for Mike Shevdon’s The Road to Bedlam and required a labyrinth diagram. The one I used, a plan of Julian’s Bower in Alkborough, Lincolnshire, can be found below. I’ve had a lifelong interest in mazes and labyrinths so this book is fascinating beyond any temporary work requirements. Matthews’ study of the form features many diagrams going back to the legendary Cretan labyrinth and the constructions of the Ancient Egyptians. Closer to home there are depictions of the designs which flourished during the great era of landscape gardening in the 18th century, and photographs of some of Britain’s remaining turf mazes. The book may be browsed here or downloaded here.

Continue reading “Mazes and labyrinths”

Labyrinths

The Breamore Miz-Maze, Hampshire. Photo by Jim Champion.

As part of the work-related research this week I was looking for designs of old turf labyrinths. It turns out I have two pages of the things in a book I’d earlier considered dropping into Oxfam so that particular volume may have gained a reprieve. Before I went to the bookshelves I’d been browsing the rather wonderful Labyrinthos site which is just the kind of detailed resource you hope to find in these circumstances. There we find an explanation for the difference between a maze and a labyrinth (the general rule being that a maze has more than one choice of route), and a wealth of examples from ancient history to the present day. I’ve long been fascinated by the labyrinths found in churches and cathedrals, of which the most famous example is the one in Chartres Cathedral. They’re a rare incidence of a symbolic device in Christian architecture which is near-universal, and which has clear antecedents in the labyrinths and mazes found in ancient temples. Labyrinthos has a guide to some of the surviving examples to be found in England. As to England’s turf labyrinths, there’s a page devoted to those here with a number of photos.

Previously on { feuilleton }
• Jeppe Hein’s mirror labyrinth