Monday, June 16, 2008
A true labyrinth: Harmonist Labyrinth restored to original design
 Historic New Harmony is restoring the Harmonist Labyrinth to a true one-path labyrinth similar to that designed by the founding Harmonie Society around 1820. The labyrinth was recreated as a hedge maze by the New Harmony Memorial Commission at a site adjacent to the original labyrinth in 1939. According to Robert Ferré of Labyrinth Enterprises, a labyrinth is a pattern with a single path that leads circuitously to the center. A maze has multiple paths, intersections, choices, and dead ends. The labyrinth was one of the earliest projects of the New Harmony Memorial Commission, created by the state of Indiana in 1937 to help preserve and protect New Harmony’s history. The original Harmonist Labyrinth was made of flowers, trees, and shrubs. There was a wooden grotto at its center. The New Harmony Memorial Commission built a small stone grotto at the center of the maze, based on designs from other Harmonist sites. Historic New Harmony renovated the grotto in 2001. “Nothing was left of the original labyrinth in 1939,” said Connie Weinzapfel, director of Historic New Harmony. “The New Harmony Memorial Commission had the research and they knew what the Harmonie Society had done, but they made a conscious decision to make a design they perceived to be more interesting.” A maze offers choices in the pathway intended to perplex the visitor, while a labyrinth holds one meditative path to its center. But the many blockades created by the current design have worked to destroy some of the Amur River privet hedges that were planted in 1939, as visitors crossed through the hedges rather than using the pathways. The Harmonists built a labyrinth at each of their three communities, including those at Harmony and Economy, Pennsylvania. To recreate the original Harmonist design required removing the hedges currently blocking the pathways, realigning the pathways, reconfiguring some hedges at the entryway, and planting new hedges. Nellis Landscaping completed the work with assistance from Historic New Harmony staff. Ferré said the Harmonist design is unique in the world of labyrinths throughout history because it solves an interesting problem. “The oldest labyrinth design is a classical seven-circuit design which is deceivingly sophisticated,” he said. “In it, the turns are opposite each other, on each side of the entrance, which gives it a very balanced look. However, the labyrinth is not symmetrical. One side has one more path than the other side, plus it is sort of mushroom-shaped. “When you make the labyrinth circular it becomes symmetrical, but the turns no longer line up, so a very nice visual effect is lost. In the Harmonist Labyrinth it is both circular and symmetrical - the turns line up across from each other in a very elegant way. This was done by intercepting the circles with horizontal lines in such a way as to manipulate where the turns end up on either side of the entrance.” Ferré designed the USI Labyrinth and consulted on the Cathedral Labyrinth in New Harmony. “I was very impressed with the unique solution they found,” he said. “I may copy it some day.” Historic New Harmony collected private donations toward the restoration of the labyrinth. Wendy Knipe Bredhold News and Information Services wkbredhold@usi.edu 812/461-5259 |
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