Minotaur

Minotaur in Northumberland, England by Nick Coombe and Shona Kitchen, 2003
 

The Kielder Water and Forest Park is located near the Scottish border on the largest man-made lake in Europe. A variety of attractions suit just about any taste, with cycling, walking trails, visitor centers, a castle, a conference center, and more. What pertains to us here is the contemporary art and architecture at Kielder, a program started in 1995. Three years later, an advisory report concluded that future commissions should focus on contemporary architecture, specifically the idea of shelter, Softroom's Belvedere the first such construction.

September 2000 saw the completion of the next piece, James Turrell's Kielder Skyspace, a cylindrical chamber sited on a rocky outcropping. Its interior is capped by a 3m (10 ft) diameter circular opening to the sky. Like much of Turrell's artwork, it requires time for the eyes to adjust and for meditative contemplation. The latest commission to open is Minotaur by Nick Coombe with Shona Kitchen and the next commission is A New Forest for Kielder by David Adjaye.

Minotaur is billed as a contemporary maze, resembling a labyrinth in plan but using tricks in section that add interest for today's visitor. One is the window at left which appears "impossibly thick", but is only as thick as the gabion walls. Others include a confessional seat, a seating alcove for kids to surprise their parents, a set of stairs at the end of a dead end corridor that gives the visitor a means to evaluate their position, and multiple slots and other openings within the maze.

The goal of the maze is to reach the tall chamber projecting above the other walls, its recycled turquoise glass rocks set off against the basalt stone of the rest. Once there the visitor can sit down and gaze at the square opening to the sky (recalling Turrell's Skyspace) before finding a route out of the maze.