Rubin Museum
The Mandala Lab is an interactive space for social and emotional learning inspired by the Tibetan Buddhist mandala. The immersive cultural space invites visitors of all ages to smell, see, touch, and listen as they sense, interpret, and process their own emotions supporting the Rubin museum’s mission: to stimulate learning, promote understanding, and inspire personal connections to the ideas, cultures, and art of Himalayan regions.
At a distinct moment of expansion and aesthetic difference within the museum, the integration of light and a series of fine metal mesh partitions separate, yet visually connect, the four quadrants of the multipurpose space organized around the museum’s central stair.
A product of meaningful collaboration, the Mandala Lab was completed with input of museum leadership, curators, exhibition specialists, cognitive scientists, Buddhist teachers, contemplative humanities researchers, and features contributions from a diverse group of contemporary multidisciplinary artists. Designed for all ages, the Mandala Lab also functions as the new home for The Rubin Museum’s School and Family Programs, hosting weekday art and mindfulness classes in partnership with the NYC Department of Education.
The Mandala Lab is an interactive space for social and emotional learning inspired by the Tibetan Buddhist mandala. The immersive cultural space invites visitors of all ages to smell, see, touch, and listen as they sense, interpret, and process their own emotions supporting the Rubin museum’s mission: to stimulate learning, promote understanding, and inspire personal connections to the ideas, cultures, and art of Himalayan regions.
A product of meaningful collaboration, the Mandala Lab was completed with input of museum leadership, curators, exhibition specialists, cognitive scientists, Buddhist teachers, contemplative humanities researchers, and features contributions from a diverse group of contemporary multidisciplinary artists. Designed for all ages, the Mandala Lab also functions as the new home for The Rubin Museum’s School and Family Programs, hosting weekday art and mindfulness classes in partnership with the NYC Department of Education.
Organized into quadrants around the museum’s central stair, the open floor plan is visually connected but separated through tactile fine metal mesh partitions, facilitating space definition while maintaining a continuous visual sense for the entire exhibition floor.
Organized into quadrants around the museum’s central stair, the open floor plan is visually connected but separated through tactile fine metal mesh partitions, facilitating space definition while maintaining a continuous visual sense for the entire exhibition floor.
PRO worked with a local Gowanus fabricator to develop a bespoke system for suspending the Gong Orchestra from the ceiling. A system of pullies and counter weights allows museum visitors to drop the gongs into a glass and walnut basin filled with water.
PRO worked with a local Gowanus fabricator to develop a bespoke system for suspending the Gong Orchestra from the ceiling. A system of pullies and counter weights allows museum visitors to drop the gongs into a glass and walnut basin filled with water.
Miriam Peterson
Nathan Rich
Varoon Kelekar
Sarah Kasper
Peik Shelton
Rubin Museum of Art announces PRO as architects for the Mandala Lab, a new interactive space that will bring cognitive science, contemplative practice, and visitor-contributed art experiences for social and emotional learning for all ages.
PRO wins a competition to re-design a floor of a museum in New York City. In addition to giving a new immediate, real life experience, our concept will set the museum up for creating remote experiences and communities.
PRO-designed Mandala Lab demonstrates how museums help in troubled times.
