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.
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.
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.
Related Stories
| Aug 25, 2014
Ranked: Top cultural facility sector AEC firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Arup, Gensler, and Turner head BD+C's rankings of design and construction firms with the most revenue from cultural facility projects, as reported in the 2014 Giants 300 Report.
| Aug 14, 2014
Museum of Mayan Culture draws inspiration from temple design [slideshow]
The Museo Maya de América in Guatemala City will be the world’s largest museum of Mayan history and culture, at 60,000 sf.
| Jul 28, 2014
Reconstruction market benefits from improving economy, new technology [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Following years of fairly lackluster demand for commercial property remodeling, reconstruction revenue is improving, according to the 2014 Giants 300 report.
| Jul 28, 2014
Reconstruction Sector Construction Firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Structure Tone, Turner, and Gilbane top Building Design+Construction's 2014 ranking of the largest reconstruction contractor and construction management firms in the U.S.
| Jul 28, 2014
Reconstruction Sector Engineering Firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Jacobs, URS, and Wiss, Janney, Elstner top Building Design+Construction's 2014 ranking of the largest reconstruction engineering and engineering/architecture firms in the U.S.
| Jul 28, 2014
Reconstruction Sector Architecture Firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Stantec, HDR, and HOK top Building Design+Construction's 2014 ranking of the largest reconstruction architecture and architecture/engineering firms in the U.S.
| Jul 23, 2014
Architecture Billings Index up nearly a point in June
AIA reported the June ABI score was 53.5, up from a mark of 52.6 in May.
| Jul 21, 2014
Economists ponder uneven recovery, weigh benefits of big infrastructure [2014 Giants 300 Report]
According to expert forecasters, multifamily projects, the Panama Canal expansion, and the petroleum industry’s “shale gale” could be saving graces for commercial AEC firms seeking growth opportunities in an economy that’s provided its share of recent disappointments.
| Jul 18, 2014
Contractors warm up to new technologies, invent new management schemes [2014 Giants 300 Report]
“UAV.” “LATISTA.” “CMST.” If BD+C Giants 300 contractors have anything to say about it, these new terms may someday be as well known as “BIM” or “LEED.” Here’s a sampling of what Giant GCs and CMs are doing by way of technological and managerial innovation.
| Jul 18, 2014
Top Construction Management Firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Jacobs, Barton Malow, Hill International top Building Design+Construction's 2014 ranking of the largest construction management and project management firms in the United States.
