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
| Jul 29, 2013
2013 Giants 300 Report
The editors of Building Design+Construction magazine present the findings of the annual Giants 300 Report, which ranks the leading firms in the AEC industry.
| Jul 26, 2013
How biomimicry inspired the design of the San Francisco Museum at the Mint
When the city was founded in the 19th century, the San Francisco Bay’s edge and marshland area were just a few hundred feet from where the historic Old Mint building sits today. HOK's design team suggested a design idea that incorporates lessons from the local biome while creating new ways to collect and store water.
| Jul 22, 2013
Cultural Facility Report [2013 Giants 300 Report]
Building Design+Construction's rankings of design and construction firms with the most revenue from cultural facility projects, as reported in the 2013 Giants 300 Report.
| Jul 19, 2013
Reconstruction Sector Engineering Firms [2013 Giants 300 Report]
URS, STV, Wiss Janney Elstner top Building Design+Construction's 2013 ranking of the largest reconstruction engineering and engineering/architecture firms in the U.S.
| Jul 19, 2013
Reconstruction Sector Architecture Firms [2013 Giants 300 Report]
Stantec, HOK, HDR top Building Design+Construction's 2013 ranking of the largest reconstruction architecture and architecture/engineering firms in the U.S.
| Jul 19, 2013
Renovation, adaptive reuse stay strong, providing fertile ground for growth [2013 Giants 300 Report]
Increasingly, owners recognize that existing buildings represent a considerable resource in embodied energy, which can often be leveraged for lower front-end costs and a faster turnaround than new construction.
| Jul 2, 2013
LEED v4 gets green light, will launch this fall
The U.S. Green Building Council membership has voted to adopt LEED v4, the next update to the world’s premier green building rating system.
| Jul 1, 2013
Report: Global construction market to reach $15 trillion by 2025
A new report released today forecasts the volume of construction output will grow by more than 70% to $15 trillion worldwide by 2025.
| Jun 28, 2013
Building owners cite BIM/VDC as 'most exciting trend' in facilities management, says Mortenson report
A recent survey of more than 60 building owners and facility management professionals by Mortenson Construction shows that BIM/VDC is top of mind among owner professionals.
| Jun 25, 2013
Mirvish, Gehry revise plans for triad of Toronto towers
A trio of mixed-use towers planned for an urban redevelopment project in Toronto has been redesigned by planners David Mirvish and Frank Gehry. The plan was announced last October but has recently been substantially revised.
