The Lab at Belmar (The Small Scheme)

The mall has become the epitome of suburban destinations; an intense amalgam of image and economy intentionally heightening and distorting social perception. The site for this museum exists at a location previously occupied by a mall and surrounded by a moat of parking spaces. Since the demolition of this mall, developer’s plans have been carried out to create a new destination where the program and ambiance of the mall have essentially been exploded and reorganized into a mini-metropolis. The interstitial spaces created are to be occupied by other various programmatic elements in order to fulfill the requirements of an urban environment. The outcome of this plan is a hyperurban environment where one can experience the mall within an urban context.

The circulatory potential of the museum intentionally aligns with the circulatory plan of the area, but traps, interjects and equally disperses pedestrians without promoting a sense of destination. The empty façade of an adjacent residential building is abducted for use by the museum as a projection screen. The adjacent building will then be used as an activator of gathering spaces strategically connected to the throughway of the museum. In order to flourish in such a manner, it is a necessity to instill operational diversity and maintain malleability in organization. While there is very little space within the site to create such a breadth of singular opportunity, the museum sets itself up to become a receptacle of variability launched by the community.

Whether it is direct or subliminal, THELAB seeks to enlighten passersby of their surroundings. As exhibitions change and various films are screened, curiosity emerges from the muzzle of suburbia. And as curiosity provokes questioning, so to will the impression of the stagnant retail sector be altered. The museum as an artistic gauntlet situates itself as a feeder back into the community by assuming the role of a destination as well as a point of departure. The goal is not to push sporadic moments of cultural flair onto the residents and visitors of the development, but rather to lay foundation for identity to be rediscovered.