Design Lab

Being a scientist isn’t just about what you know, it’s about what you know how to do. When you visit Design Lab, you’ll encounter design challenges, lots of raw materials and opportunities to engineer solutions to real-world problems. Challenges in Design Lab invite you to take risks, share your ideas, get new perspectives on engineering, and design.

When you visit Design Lab, you’ll get to practice solving problems the same way that successful engineers and scientists do:
Use your curiosity.
Work with your community.
Take creative risks.

You’ll find new activities and challenges in Design Lab all the time. You might create a solution to an everyday problem that matters to you, or come up with ways to tackle grand global challenges that affect us all. You might also help us to develop brand-new activities and exhibits that we’re still figuring out – we need your help!

Design Lab was designed and fabricated by SITU Studio. The activity areas are distinct in size, materials and degree of enclosure with structural elements purposely made visible to visitors, evoking the DIY sensibility at the core of Design Lab‘s activities.

Design Lab is made possible with generous support from Phyllis and Ivan Seidenberg, the Verizon Foundation, Office of Naval Research and the Xerox Foundation. The Verizon Foundation provided seed funding for Design Lab that supported the participation of teachers to contribute to and inform the exhibition.

Visitor Information

Design Lab is a free, drop-in space for NYSCI visitors. Explore, build and create, and spend as much time as you like.

Groups of over 20 participants require a reservation for free 25-minute activity sessions in Design Lab. All activities can be scaled to suit all age groups.

NYSCI’s Maker Space offers low-cost family and group workshops that require reservations.