Joel Sanders Architect

The Media Lounge, located in the first floor of the newly renovated Yale University Art Gallery designed in 1953 by Louis Kahn, consolidates all functions – reception desk, waiting area, museum shop and cafe – typically isolated from one another in a traditional museum lobby. At the same time, it adds a new and unorthodox program, a media lounge geared towards turning the museum into a frequent destination for students where they can chat over coffee, browse through museum publications, or work on their laptops.

Flexibility is a key element in our design, as it was in Kahn’s original conception of the museum as an open loft that could be subdivided using a series of floating modular display panels. In the same spirit, our intervention employs mobile furniture and display units that can be combined and reconfigured to create a dynamic environment that can host a full range of events from informal study groups to evening galas.