The Metropolitan Museum of Art will open a newly designed facility to facilitate a science and art play space for young children in a few months.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has set September 9 for the opening of the new 81st Street Studio children’s education space.
Designed by KOKO Architecture + Design, a creative partnership entered around the the duo’s inherent love of modern design, the facility, called 81st Street Studio, will take over a renovated space in the museum’s Harold D. Uris Center for Education and offer will offer science-based making, art activities, play, games, music, and more to children ages 3–11 and their caregivers. The 3,500-square-foot design offers itself as an interactive environment that reimagines how the Museum may stimulate discovery of its extensive collection, heighten curiosity, and produce new experiences.
“Education is a critical — and very exciting — part of The Met’s mission, and we are proud to open the extraordinary new 81st Street Studio and further advance our role as a tremendously engaging resource for local and global communities,” Museum director Max Hollein said in a statement. “Through immersive activities, the Studio inspires children to explore connections between art and science, which is so valuable for creating a lifelong love and appreciation for art and artistic practices.”
The 81st Street Studio is an interdisciplinary, multisensory drop-in discovery and play space that supports science learning in everyday life through art and materiality. Drop-in activities will be available alongside self-guided art and science-making projects, a noncirculating children’s library with books that encourage material discovery, and scheduled storytelling sessions. Through seven interactive stations and the children’s library, the Studio facilitates the exploration of materials – inaugural activities are inspired by wood, and kids will be able to explore a variety of wood types and finishes through touch and smell, participate in activities such as woodblock carving and drum making, and use digital tools to discover the secrets of wood, clay, and metal.
A unique musical station, designed by Yamaha, will help visitors engage and understand how materials influence sound through varieties of instruments including standing guitar and a castanet wall. Yamaha also designed a bird chime that will play sounds to mark important times of the day in the Studio. Other stations will also engage the senses through hands-on building using cardboard boxes, tape, wooden blocks, wheels, fabric, and Velcro. Through hands-on construction utilizing cardboard boxes, tape, wooden blocks, wheels, cloth, and Velcro, other stations will also stimulate the senses. A Met Field Guide, a collection of unique tools that directs exploration of the Museum and Central Park, will also be available for kids to pick up.
The new initiative is conceived by Heidi Holder, The Met’s Frederick P. and Sandra P. Rose Chair of Education, in consultation with departments throughout the Museum including Conservation, Scientific Research, Curatorial, Design, Digital, and Capital Projects departments. Bluecadet, an experience design firm, served as a strategic digital design partner and produced interactive media for the space. Concept and design creation for the music space was led by Kip Washio of Yamaha. RoundSquare Builders served as construction manager and Mark Richey Woodworking and Design fabricated the millwork.
In an email to Archinect, KOKO’s Mishi Hosono and Adam Weintraub explained: “The Met’s rich, inclusive, and diverse programming for children demanded an environment that is dynamic and ever-evolving. Throughout the pandemic, we were able to host virtual design workshops with the Met’s education department and curators to explore the role of materiality and sensory perception within the Met’s encyclopedic collection and incorporate that into the visitor experience.”
“The challenge was to create a space that was responsive to different uses and programming for educators, but that also addresses the unique needs and engagement of the Met’s youngest guests. It was important to us to consider how children of all ages may process the size and scale of the Met and ensure that the 81st Street Studio creates the magical sensation that new worlds, filled with culture and art, are opening up just for them,” they added finally.
