from “le détroit” · the strait
A-MAZING Detroit, a life-sized cardboard maze built around seven Detroit neighborhoods, opens Saturday at the Michigan Science Center and is included with general admission.
The Michigan Science Center opens a life-sized cardboard maze of Detroit landmarks on Saturday, May 9. The exhibit, called A-MAZING Detroit: All Paths Lead to Mi-Sci, is included with general admission and runs for a limited time. The Skillman Foundation is the presenting sponsor, Ford Philanthropy is the supporting sponsor, and Welch Packaging is the in-kind sponsor that supplied the corrugated material.
The maze is built in seven sections, each tied to a part of the city. The Eastside section brings together Belle Isle, the Heidelberg Project, Indian Village, and techno. Downtown features the Spirit of Detroit, Hart Plaza, and the Lions. Southwest and Corktown cover Michigan Central Station, Tiger Stadium, and Mexicantown. The Riverfront section includes the Aretha Franklin Amphitheater, the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge, and the bridges. The West Side takes in Palmer Park, Boston Edison, and Woodbridge. New Center and the North End hold the Fisher Building, the Ford Piquette Plant, and Hitsville U.S.A. Midtown rounds it out with Eastern Market, the Gratiot Meat Mall, the Cass Corridor, and the Science Center itself.
"This isn't just a game," Dr. Christian Greer, the center's president and CEO, said in the announcement. "A-MAZING Detroit is a love letter to the city and an immersive journey."
The build sits in Science Hall on the upper level of the museum at 5020 John R Street in Midtown. The center says the maze is fully accessible for guests using mobility aids or strollers, with multiple exits that let visitors leave at any point rather than walk the full route.
A few hands-on activations come with the maze. Visitors can guide robots through smaller cardboard mazes, build their own cardboard creations, and play cardboard skee-ball, all framed around the design and engineering behind corrugated construction.
Welch Packaging, which fabricated the material, framed the exhibit as a showcase for its product. "We are certain this exhibit will provide an engaging experience centered around corrugated materials," said Brian Bazick, general manager of Welch Packaging in Detroit.
The activities are pitched at the Science Center's core school-age audience, and the format plays to what the museum does well: a constructed, walkable, photographable installation built from a recognizable Detroit visual vocabulary and sized for a school-group rotation.
5020 John R St., Midtown.
One dispatch a week. No tracking, no filler. Free, always.