The Mandala Lab is an interactive space for social and emotional learning inspired by the Tibetan Buddhist mandala. The immersive cultural space invites visitors to smell, see, touch, and listen as they sense, interpret, and process their own thoughts and emotions supporting the Rubin museum’s mission to stimulate learning, promote understanding, and inspires personal connections to the ideas, cultures, and art of Himalayan regions. Organized into quadrants around the museum’s central stair, the Mandala Lab features a multipurpose open floor plan that is bounded by light and visually connected but separated through fine metal mesh partitions. The Mandala lab was completed in collaboration with cognitive scientists, Buddhist teachers, contemplative humanities researchers, and features contributions from a diverse group of contemporary multidisciplinary artists. Designed for all ages but also functioning as the home for School and Family Programs, the 2,700-square-foot space features videos accompanied by scents, a sculpture that invites collective breathing, an apparatus to check your pride, and curated percussion instruments dipped in water.

Architects Peterson Rich Office Nathan Rich, Miriam Peterson, Varook Kelekar, Peik Bennet Shelton, Alex Bodkin, Sarah Kasper

General Contractor: Riverside Builders

Lighting Design: Tim Holm

Creative Technology: MediaCombo

Special Fabrications: The New Motor

Basin Design: City Aquarium

Photography: Rafael Gamo