Metropolitan Museum Opens 81st Street Studio Children's Learning Center

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York inaugurated the 81st Street Studio on September 9, 2023, a 3,500-square-meter educational space designed by KOKO Architecture + Design within the museum's Education Center. Targeting visitors aged 3 to 11, the studio offers hands-on, interactive learning across seven stations, including a music station, wood and fabric construction areas, and a reading corner. The $5 million project, led by designer Adam Weintraub and Mishi Hosono, aims to introduce children to the museum's collections through multisensory experiences, allowing them to touch, move freely, and even lie on scented cushions. Heidi Holder, chair of the Frederick P. and Sandra P. Rose Education Department, emphasized that the studio reimagines the museum's role in communities by encouraging discovery and risk-taking. The design draws on Maria Montessori's educational principles, promoting autonomous, analog exploration while incorporating digital elements to foster serendipitous learning. The studio is part of a broader museum renewal that includes a new interactive app.