flexiblefullpage
billboard
interstitial1
catfish1
Currently Reading

The Rubin Museum of Art’s Mandala Lab set to open

Museums

The Rubin Museum of Art’s Mandala Lab set to open

The new space occupies the museum’s third floor.


By David Malone, Managing Editor | August 17, 2021
Mandala Lab breathing sculpture

Renderings courtesy PRO

The Mandala Lab, the Rubin Museum of Art’s new interactive space for social, emotional, and ethical learning, is set to open to the public on Sept. 24.

The lab is located on the remodeled third floor and was designed by Peterson Rich Office (PRO). The Mandala Lab invites visitors to participate in five experiences. These experiences feature videos accompanied by scents, a site-specific commissioned sculpture that invites collective breathing, and curated percussion instruments dipped in water. Each activity looks to harness the power of difficult emotions and offer pathways to develop resilience, calmness, and connection. The new space also functions as the home for School and Family Programs, which connect younger generations to the teaching expressed in Himalayan art through social, emotional, and ethical learning.

 

Mandala Lab gong orchestra

 

Each activity on the floor is envisioned as a sensorial experience and takes inspiration from Buddhist principles that focus on self-awareness and the awareness of others. Visitors can engage with a scent and memory library, participate in a synchronized breathing activity, and take part in a gong orchestra with eight gongs suspended over water.

As visitors move through the lab they will examine the feelings of pride, attachment, envy, anger, and ignorance. Visitors will then be invited to experiment and attempt to transform these emotional states into a complementary wisdom. It is in this way that the Mandala Lab aims to offer tools and new perspectives for coping with the day-to-day challenges and emotional burdens brought about by personal and societal complexities.

 

Mandala Lab lab space

 

Highlights of the design include:

- a 2,700-sf multipurpose open floor plan bounded by light that converts for education, exhibition, and event needs

- fine metal mesh partitions that surround the spiral staircase and divide the space into four quadrants

- an alcove with rounded walls and acoustic panels where content can be deployed with a wide, drop-down projection screen

- flexible space for lights-on learning with tables and chairs.

The new Mandala Lab is set to open with a free admission weekend spanning Sept. 24-26.

 

Mandala Lab interactive display

 

Mandala Lab library view

Tags

Related Stories

Museums | Apr 23, 2015

Moshe Safdie unveils pentagonal scheme for National Medal of Honor Museum

The new museum near Charleston, S.C., will archive the history of the nation's highest military honorees.

Museums | Apr 22, 2015

Check out Ralph Johnson's stunning nature-inspired Shanghai museum

The newly opened Shanghai Natural History Museum, designed by Perkins+Will’s Global Design Director Ralph Johnson, mimics the shape of a nautilus shell, and features natural elements throughout. 

Museums | Apr 16, 2015

SANAA and Snøhetta tie at first place for Budapest museum bid

The two firms submitted designs for the New National Gallery and Ludwig Museum, one of five planned museums to be constructed in a park just outside the urban center of Hungary’s capital. 

Sponsored | Fire-Rated Products | Apr 14, 2015

Fire resistive curtain wall brings maximum light, views and safety to Aspen Art Museum

The curtain wall used for the Shigeru Ban-designed museum provides maximum daylight while protecting the art from fire

Museums | Apr 10, 2015

Henning Larsen Architects designs timber museum extension in Sweden

The new extension will complement Österund’s wooded surroundings

Building Team Awards | Apr 10, 2015

14 projects that push AEC teaming to the limits

From Lean construction to tri-party IPD to advanced BIM/VDC coordination, these 14 Building Teams demonstrate the power of collaboration in delivering award-winning buildings. These are the 2015 Building Team Award winners.

Building Team Awards | Apr 9, 2015

9/11 museum triumphs over controversy

The Building Team for this highly visible project had much more than design, engineering, and construction problems to deal with.

High-rise Construction | Mar 16, 2015

Mexican Museum tower caught in turmoil to break ground this summer in San Francisco

Millennium Partners said it will break ground on the 53-story residential and museum tower while the lawsuits go through the appeals process.

Museums | Mar 9, 2015

Architecture based on astronomy principles for new planetarium in Shanghai

The ancient Chinese civilization left some of the earliest records of humans studying the stars and skies. To exhibit this long history, a new planetarium and astronomy museum is planned for construction in Shanghai.

Museums | Mar 5, 2015

A giant, silver loop in Dubai will house the Museum of the Future

The Sheikh of Dubai hopes the $136 million museum will serve as an incubator for ideas and real designs—a global destination for inventors and entrepreneurs.

boombox1
boombox2
native1

More In Category

Museums

Connecticut’s Bruce Museum more than doubles its size with a 42,000-sf, three-floor addition

In Greenwich, Conn., the Bruce Museum, a multidisciplinary institution highlighting art, science, and history, has undergone a campus revitalization and expansion that more than doubles the museum’s size. Designed by EskewDumezRipple and built by Turner Construction, the project includes a 42,000-sf, three-floor addition as well as a comprehensive renovation of the 32,500-sf museum, which was originally built as a private home in the mid-19th century and expanded in the early 1990s. 




halfpage1

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021