Nature Lab
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
Details
The Nature Lab is a hands-on, interactive gallery that invites visitors to discover the extraordinary biodiversity of Los Angeles hiding in plain sight. Through live animals, more than 200 specimens, media, scientist demonstrations and participatory experiences, visitors practice scientific methods, build observation skills and learn to “see nature through new eyes.”
A highly iterative, visitor-centered development process was central to the project. Exhibits, interactives and media were prototyped and tested with visitors throughout development, allowing the team to observe how people engaged with the content and continually refine the experience before final fabrication.
My responsibilities included overseeing content development, design, prototyping, fabrication and installation, as well as overall budget management. I worked with a large interdisciplinary team of passionate museum curators, writers, content developers, educators, media producers, designers, coordinators, live animal specialists and exhibit technicians.
Project Stats
Client: Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County
Budget: $4.7M
Size: 5,600 sq ft
Exhibition Design Partner: Gallagher and Associates
Architect: Co Architects
Completed: 2013
Awards: AAM Excellence in Exhibition, SEGD Merit Award, Thea Award
Behind the Scenes
Prototyping → Visitor Testing → Fabrication → Installation
Words
“In the new Nature Lab the old museum natural history genre has been turned on its head: this is not a narrative of an all-seeing culture evolving out of the wilds of nature, but of a culture tentatively trying to find its way into nature. The lab’s exhibits are among the most successful I have seen for children in a science museum.”
– Ed Rothstein, New York Times