Located in the resort town of Estes Park, Colorado, the Stanley Hotel’s claim to fame is that it inspired Stephen King to write the “The Shining,” an icon of the horror story genre that is perhaps best known in Stanley Kubrick’s legendary 1980 film adaptation. To celebrate its current management’s 20th anniversary, the hotel has launched an open competition to design a pivotal set from the cult classic: a 10,100 square-foot, real-life hedge maze for its front lawn.
Scenes from Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining”
Now, before your imagination runs wild with high-tech features (King’s version had hedge animals that came to life; due to tech constraints Kubrick stuck to a maze made of branches woven through chicken wire), note that the competition has very strict specifications limiting materials to “1,600 to 2,000 Alpine Currant hedge bushes” arranged in a spatial template they’ve provided. Once a panel of Estes Park residents, hotel employees, and Stanley Film Festival employees has reviewed the entries, the actual maze will open during a ribbon-cutting ceremony on the opening night of the 3rd annual Stanley Film Festival on April 30th, 2015. Some designs are like people: some shine and some don’t.
via The Stanley Hotel
All designs are due by midnight, January 31. For the full rules, see the Stanley Hotel design brief.