THE MET’S 81ST STREET STUDIO
Described by the New York Times as “a Garden of Artful Delight”, the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s 81st Street Studio, in the Ruth and Harold D. Uris Center for Education, is a tactile interactive discovery space that reimagines how The Met can inspire exploration of its multitude of collections, while also creating multisensory experiences for its youngest visitors. With a range of dynamic digital and analog opportunities, the 81st Street Studio conjures a magical space where new worlds, filled with culture and art, come to life.
Photographs by Richard Lee, courtesy of The Met
‘With treelike structures, a green knoll and overhead chimes incorporating colorful carved birds, the 3,500-square-foot space exposes young minds to art’s most fundamental ingredients: materials. By offering visitors opportunities to explore these elements and relate them to the Met’s collection, the studio’s creators hope to turn them into lifelong museumgoers.’
– Laurel Graeber, The New York Times
We at KOKO Architecture look at design as serious play. In order to create spaces for children and their families, we believe that one must first venture to experience the world from the innocence and limitless point of view of a child. For KOKO, developing environments for kids means making room for the unique ideas of children and giving them ample room to develop these concepts and to grow.
The Met’s rich, inclusive, and diverse initiatives for children demanded the creation of a very special universe. KOKO developed a series of organic flowing, interconnected spaces, equally suited for educational programming and the needs of young families, but most importantly, spaces that would inspire wonder and engagement with The Met’s newest patrons.
