About the Mazes at Powell Gardens

From a 3-D "play house of cards" maze to the serene Twin Moon labyrinth, the mazes range from high concept to decidedly low tech. The artists range from long time friends who can never pass up a creative challenge to professional landscape architects looking for a chance to flex some creative muscle. When Powell Gardens officials issued a call for design entries for the 2006 summer exhibit, the responses came from near and far.

mesh

Explore mesh, a deceivingly simple maze of delicate, intertwining filaments that change with the light and the wind. Like a spider's web, the maze meshes with its surroundings, ensnaring windblown bits and pieces from the environment — as well as people!

Christina Assmann received her master's degree in architecture from the University of Kansas in 2003. She also holds an architecture degree from the University of Stuttgart in Germany. She has been employed with BNIM for two years. Kyle Gregory received his bachelor's degree in architecture from KU in 2001 and has worked for International Architects Atelier for six years.

Laundry Day

Laundry Day pays homage to childhood memories of fresh, clean sheets hanging out to dry on a warm, sunny day and has a surprise for visitors midway through.

The team behind Laundry Day all work together as landscape designers in the Urban Design and Planning Group of HNTB Corporation. Erica Young is a 2004 graduate of North Dakota State University with a bachelor's degree in landscape architecture. Amy Bowman-Comer is a 1998 graduate of Kansas State University with a bachelor's degree in landscape architecture and a secondary degree in natural resources and environmental sciences. Elizabeth Nelson is a 2004 graduate of Kansas State University with a bachelor's degree in landscape architecture. Collectively, these young professionals have worked on a variety of projects at HNTB, including land planning, transportation enhancement, urban design, and parks and recreation projects.

Special thanks to Kissick Construction.

Monoculture

Monoculture will be a child's delight—a "see through" maze that rattles in the wind and gives the sensation of strolling through a field of abstract wildflowers.

Coworkers Chris Handzel and Mitch Zeller teamed up to create the design for Monoculture. Chris is a designer and landscape architect in the Urban Design and Planning Group of HNTB Corporation and has a degree in landscape architecture from Kansas State University. Before joining HNTB in the summer of 2005, he worked with the HOK Planning Group in St. Louis. His design experience ranges from corporate campuses to healthcare facilities, park and recreation planning, and urban design developments. Mitch is a fellow designer and landscape architect at HNTB and is a graduate of Kansas State University with a degree in landscape architecture. He has worked at HNTB since graduation in 2000. Mitch has experience in designing a wide range of projects, including residential communities, commercial developments, trail design, park and recreation planning, and urban design developments.

Special thanks to Kissick Construction.

Signs of the Times

Discover the messages from the world of advertising in Signs of the Times, a maze constructed from recycled billboards.

During his 24 years of experience, Dennis Reynolds has designed award-winning projects throughout the world, including Australia, Dubai and the Far East. His previous temporary landscape designs include "Art in the Landscape" for Columbus, Ohio's Franklin Park Conservatory. He also designed "The Art of Wetland Observation" funded by the National Endowment for Arts. Dennis is the development design director for Ladco Development, a Midwest-based firm with offices in Kansas City and Des Moines. Katie Meyer is an urban designer for RDG Planning & Design, an architecture, landscape architecture, planning and graphic design firm located in Union Station. During her three years of experience she has been involved in projects ranging from large-scale developments to detailed resort design.

Special thanks to Odegard Crane & Display and Taylor Kelly Construction.

The B-Team — Hiding Right or Left

In Hiding Right or Left, you must make a decision at every crossroad as you navigate this shady camouflaged maze.

Longtime friends Janice Beydler and Vicki Borer thought, "We both have demanding jobs (AT&T and North Kansas City Hospital), families, homes, nonprofit organization activities and have had multiple garage sales, so how hard could it be to design a maze?" Vicki and her daughter, Kristy, a double art degree graduate, tweaked and made suggestions for the design. Vicki's husband added a last-minute change before the final design was submitted. Vicki's son David is the point man for installation. Although the team name is "The B Team", this is truly an "A Team Project."

The Community Labyrinth

The Community Labyrinth invites you to discover how a "community" of cutout figures changes when viewed from the center of a small island.

Blacktop Creative is a design and creative firm based in the River Market. The firm opened in April 2001 and currently employs 13 associates. Owners Mike Miller, Shawn Polowniak and Dave Swearingen founded Blacktop on the principles of innovative design and collaborative creative direction. Each Blacktop associate brings a unique perspective to the creative process through design, illustration, painting, sculpture or account service.

(A) Maze

(A) Maze is another nontraditional spin on mazes — instead of following a wall or path, you will navigate objects in the landscape to solve this puzzle.

Bob Carlson is with DLR Group, a national architecture, engineering and planning firm with offices across the country. The firm works primarily in the corporate, K-12 education, higher education, sports and entertainment, and criminal justice markets. Dimensional Innovations is a multidisciplinary design-assist/design and specialty fabrication firm that uses diverse backgrounds, state-of-the-art capabilities and extensive knowledge to translate people's ideas into real-life installations and environments. McCown Gordon Construction was founded in 1999 by Patrick J. McCown and J. Brett Gordon, two seasoned Kansas City construction professionals. The professional commercial construction company is one of the fastest-growing firms in the nation.

card+board+play+house

The card+board+play+house will be another sure hit with the kids. This giant-size house of cards will be stacked into a 3-D playhouse maze kids can crawl in, over and around as the look for hidden images on the front face of the cards — including the Queen (bee) of Diamonds, the King (cobra) of spades and the Jack (rabbit) of Clubs.

Last year Trevor Hoiland, Tom Moody, Steven Roark, Mitch Swymeler and Rick Smith were looking for a creative outlet outside of the work environment and ended up designing, building and installing a 20-foot-tall cocoon for Powell Gardens' TREEmendous TREEhouses exhibit. The challenge of building something that intricate was far more rewarding than expected, so naturally the team was drawn to this year's competition. As architects, the team wanted to create a simple three-dimensional maze of recognizable objects that lets kids work their way up off the ground and into a smaller series of spaces that isolate themselves from the Gardens and their parents. The designers work together at 360 Architecture and Mortise + Tenon and have five "lab rats" to validate their designs for Powell Gardens… four boys and one girl, all under the age of 5. The team finds it rewarding to see children enjoying the fruits of their labor and asks visitors to please let the little ones run wild!

Rope Maze

In the Rope Maze by English maze guru Adrian Fisher, the rope forms the pathway in a compelling challenge. Clip yourself on and see how quickly you can reach the other end of your colored rope. No one completes this maze with their balance or their dignity in tact!

Adrian Fisher is internationally recognized as the world's leading maze designer. His mazes can be found in all corners of the globe. His company, the Adrian Fisher Mazes Ltd. , based in Dorset, England, has set six Guinness world records, won 12 design and export awards, and created more than 500 mazes in 23 countries. Fisher has designed and created mazes on the grounds of palaces, castles, stately homes, zoos, amusement parks, children's museums, science centers, universities, schools, city centers and farms.

Twin Moon Labyrinth

The Twin Moon labyrinth centers on the ancient tradition of a 'Kogetsuda' with a mirror image rippling in the adjacent pond.

Richard Farnan is an architect with HNTB Corp. and a lecturer at the University of Kansas School of Architecture. He lives in Kansas City with his spouse, Aryn Roth. He was a contributor to Powell Gardens' 2005 exhibit, TREEmendous TREEhouses. Jake Otto is a professional engineer, inventor and founder of Otto Bros. Sign Co. and Silkpaint. He and his wife, Michelle, live in Waldron, Mo.

The Mazes at Powell Gardens