Stowe in Vienna, May 2000
For anyone familiar with the topography of 20th century labyrinthecture, Rasmus Stowe will be a well-known name. Born in Cape Canaveral, FL in 1923 to Danish-Canadian parents, Stowe designed and oversaw the construction of 19 ISCL accredited labyrinths between the years of 1957 and 1998, including some of the most revered and, in many cases, notoriously difficult labyrinthine works of our contemporary epoch.
Stowe's labyrinthecture falls very definitely within the realm of Gollestenian labyrinthology. His is a poetic labyrinth, with an emphasis on ambulation and a reverence for naturalism. Perhaps the most unifying trait in his body of work is his insistence on working with the materials most readily available to him in the region of construction. Tales abound in labyrinthectural circles about his refusal to import any raw materials when constructing his labyrinths. Moreover, whereas many labyrinthects in the wake of Molrey viewed labyrinth construction as a physical and abiding embodiment of the sublime/otherworldly/fantastical, Stowe's works remained resolutely in keeping with the embedded landscapes, both cultural and geographic, of his construction sites. For those unfamiliar with Stowe's body of work, here I present a few particularly inspired examples and a few interesting footnotes:
Laurel Grove Kudzu Labyrinth (1957-1960, USA)
Stowe's first labyrinth, built entirely from kudzu harvested from Savannah, Georgia and surrounding counties. Stowe received a grant from the Laurel Grove Citizens Board for proposing a project which would boost tourism in the region and provide a welcome reprieve from the rampantly growing kudzu that was otherwise being uprooted and burned. He reportedly used 215,000 tons of kudzu in the construction of the labyrinth.
Blue Nile Gorge Labyrinth (1968-1973, Ethiopia)
The Blue Nile Gorge labyrinth is the first aquatic labyrinth which Stowe designed. He received the ISCL Honneur du Labyrinthect award for the labyrinth in 1973, the result of scientific findings which show that the aquatic corridors provided safe haven to the critically endangered Spotted Necked Otter (Lutra maculicollis), a species which has since flourished and avoided what seemed to be certain extinction.
Guajira Penninsula Labyrinth (1982-1991, Columbia/Venezuela)
Perhaps Stowe's best known labyrinth. It is a hybrid aquatic/terrestrial labyrinth and, as a personal aside, it is without question the most difficult navigatory experience I've ever had. The labyrinth begins in the xeric shrubland of Columbia and covers an area of approx. 95.000 km2. The corridors become aquatic around the northeastern coast of Venezuela, near the foothills of the Macuira mountain range. The labyrinth's Great Room is above water and noted for its dense population of Caribbean flamingos which apparently favor its misty climes.
Schwarzwald Labyrinth (1993-1998, Germany)
Stowe's final completed labyrinth, designed largely in tribute to German philosopher Martin Heidegger who lived in the Black Forest where the labyrinth was constructed. Stowe found continued inspiration in Heidegger's writing, particularly his post-Sein und Zeit texts. The Schwarzwald Labyrinth is, without question, Stowe's most ruminative and convoluted labyrinth, mimicking the Heideggerian notion that thinking is akin to traveling along a darkened woodpath in which getting lost is as important as finding one's way.
Futher reading:
Brinkley, Joseph. Stowe's Contributions to Labyrinthecture. New York: Paragone Press, 1989.
Gallimard, Maurice. Couloirs Aquatiques. Paris: Editions Arceneaux, 2003.
Smallencroft, Bernhard. Rasmus Stowe. Chicago: Black Thicket, 2011.
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