PHILADELPHIA, PA.- Luci Creative, a full-service museum creative agency collaborated with the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago (MSI), Leviathan, and Ravenswood Studio in 2014 to develop, design, build, and install Numbers in Nature: A Mirror Maze, the transformative and award-winning exhibit. Building on that success, the partners have come together again to transform the permanent exhibit into an 8,000 square-foot traveling exhibit. The fully-immersive, interactive, and playful experience reveals the predictable math behind recurring patterns found in the natural and man-made world. The exhibit begins its tour at The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. (Now open through September 4, 2017.)
Weve seen an incredible response to A Mirror Maze: Numbers in Nature from guests, with an overwhelming number of adults noting this exhibit opens their eyes to the fact that math is everywhere, helping them to see the world in an entirely new way, said John Beckman, MSIs director of design and development. We are thrilled that we were able to lean into Lucis expertise to help us travel the exhibit and help thousands more people examine and experience the beautiful patterns of everyday life.
From getting lost in a huge mirror maze and exploring mathematical patterns of the natural world, to understanding the delicate nested spirals of a sunflowers seeds, the blood vessels in our eyes, and even the layout of the universe, Luci Creative helped to bring A Mirror Maze: Numbers in Nature to life in unique way, revealing and explaining the patterns that exist in nature, the human body, art, and design.
Theres a common misconception that math is daunting and, quite frankly, irrelevant to the general public, said AJ Goehle, Director of Strategy & Design at Luci Creative. Luci was challenged with making math in the everyday world accessible, relevant and fun, without intimidating museum visitors with complex or scary numerical equations The exhibit is designed to inspire visitors to leave the museum with a newfound appreciation of math, and help them to see the world in a new way; mathematical patterns are everywhere! The exhibit has even become one of the most Instagrammable exhibits ever to appear at The Franklin Institute.
The exhibit transports visitors into three different worlds:
Immersive theatre: An animated hallway of lenticular images is followed by a large-format movie that introduces exhibit concepts via a four-minute film, revealing the elegance, connections and universality of patterns in nature, our bodies and the designed world.
Step Inside a Pattern: a 1,700 square-foot mirror maze immerses guests in a giant pattern with unexpected dead ends that trigger additional content. A hidden room provides more surprises like artifacts and math puzzles.
Pattern Discovery: An interactive gallery of more than a dozen fun, hands-on activities allows guests to further explore patterns in nature and see how they appear in music, art, architecture, and even their own bodies.
A Mirror Maze: Numbers in Nature was developed by the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, and is presented in the Mandell Center at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia through September 4, 2017.