Le Laboratoire Cambridge Opens in October as an Unrivaled Art & Design Center in Cambridge Inviting Visitors to Experience First-Hand the Wonders and Experiments of Innovators of All Kinds

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Aug. 20, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Le Laboratoire Cambridge, a one-of-a-kind art and design center for creativity, invention and boundless learning, will open in Cambridge on October 31. Le Lab will be the US flagship of ArtScience Labs, a global organization dedicated to the development of the most radical ideas that transform the way we learn, imagine and evolve. Originally founded in Paris in 2007 by renowned inventor, material scientist and Harvard Professor David Edwards, the art and design center will welcome the public to experience the collision of ideas from the leading creators of our time – from world-renowned artists and designers, to scientists and culinary masters. Le Lab will be an unparalleled idea space and incubator for cutting-edge exhibitions, dynamic public programming, boundary-breaking prototypes, and inventive food and drink experiences at Cafe Art Science.  

Designer Mathieu Lehanneur, in collaboration with architects Zeke Brown and Josh Fenollosa and contracted by C.E. Floyd Company, Inc., designed Le Laboratoire Cambridge to be a reimagined creative laboratory, where visitors can interact with and participate in the euphoria of art and design experiments and food innovations unlike anything they have seen before. Designed as fun, vibrant community hub and idea space, Le Lab incorporates pieces and materials that reflect the purpose of the space. Materials were chosen by their natural beauty and unique elements including a multi-functional sofa inspired by the curves of the brain. Additionally, a hexagonal pattern was chosen for the interior, which was inspired by the architecture, organization, and community-spirit of bee hives.

This October, visitors will be able to immerse themselves in catalytic, multi-sensory exhibitions from the intersection of art and science. Le Laboratoire Cambridge will open with "Vocal Vibrations," an exhibition that follows an experiment led by composer and inventor Tod Machover with designer and architect Neri Oxman, and in which specially designed objects disembody vibrations generated by visitors' own voices and promote new ways of exploring vocal vibrations in health and meditation. "Vocal Vibrations" will be open to the public from October 31, 2014 through March 22, 2015. Future programming at Le Lab will showcase an experiment between world-renowned perfumer Christophe Laudamiel and David Edwards on olfactory books and films, oMedia, and an experiment between artist Mark Dion and marine biologist Lisa-ann Gershwin on jellyfish and the future of the ocean.

Cafe ArtScience, a culinary extension of Le Laboratoire Cambridge, will be Boston's newest and most radical destination to taste the future of food and drink. The Cafe will feature "Best of Boston" bartender Todd Maul, renowned Parisian coffee-roasters Antoine Netien and Tom Clark, and Chef Patrick Campbell, previously of No 9 Park. Diners will be able to order from small-plate, cafe and cocktail menus and discover, play with, and even acquire the trailblazing innovations coming out of Le Lab that are dedicated to pioneering a more nutritious and sustainable world. Examples of these innovations include cocktails, ice cream and other foods made with edible packaging (WikiFoods), Flavor Clouds (Le Whaf), and aroma telephones (oPhone).

Le Laboratoire Cambridge's public programming explores the frontiers of art and science through thought-provoking and stimulating experiences, investigations, and interactions that reveal the collaborative processes and insights of a diverse range of leading thinkers, practitioners, and makers from across the disciplines. The programming provides an exceptional resource for learning about how innovation can impact ourselves, our cities and our world. Program partners include Wyss Institute at Harvard, Arts & Humanities @HMS (Harvard Medical School), the Harvard School of Engineering & Applied Sciences and the Harvard Graduate School of Design. One of the first lectures in Le Lab Cambridge's ArtScience series will be that of famed author Arthur I. Miller who will present on "Colliding Worlds: How Cutting-Edge Science is Redefining Contemporary Art" on November 14, 2014.

"Le Laboratoire Cambridge and Café ArtScience," says David Edwards, "will invite the public to enter into and explore the creative spirit that makes Cambridge one of the most innovative places on earth – with an art and design sensibility formed by our Paris origin."

Le Laboratoire Cambridge is dedicating fundamental change in education, culture, industry, and society. Central to that mission is its innovation educational program built around The ArtScience Prize, which since 2009 has moved from its origins in the Boston Public Schools to over 15 sites around the USA and internationally. With the opening of Le Lab, ArtScience Labs, operator of Le Laboratoire Cambridge, Le Laboratoire Paris and the ArtScience Prize, will focus its resources on promulgating innovation education curricula around the world and awarding an annual global innovation prize to middle school, high school and university students. Annual winners of the ArtScience Prize will be invited to exhibit their work at Le Laboratoire Cambridge in a special dedicated Innovation Gallery. 

Le Laboratoire Cambridge will be located at 650 East Kendall Street in Cambridge, MA in Kendall Square. For more information about Le Laboratoire Cambridge and Cafe ArtScience please visit lelaboratoirecambridge.com and www.cafeartscience.com.  

About David Edwards David Edwards is Harvard Professor of Idea Translation in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Wyss Institute Faculty Member, founder of Le Laboratoire Paris, and Le Laboratoire Cambridge, and the inventor of food and sensorial innovations, including WikiFoods, and drug and vaccine technologies related to the delivery of drugs and vaccines to the lungs to eliminate injections.  He is a member of the National Academies of Engineering in USA and France, a member of the National Academy of Inventors (USA), and a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres of the French Ministry of Culture. He is the author of many articles, patents, and books of fiction and nonfiction.

SOURCE Le Laboratoire Cambridge