The Lab also received 45,000 Facebook likes and more than 40,000 YouTube views, while in excess of 3,000 people submitted ideas for the BMW Guggenheim Lab’s interactive logo. The Urbanology game has been played more than 26,000 times at the Lab and online.

The Lab’s East Village site at First Park has now been transformed into a community park, and there are plans to continue using the space for cultural programming.

“The BMW Guggenheim Lab inspired people throughout New York to think more imaginatively about what it means to live in a city and how we all shape the urban future, while bringing life to a formerly closed-off, empty lot,” says Adrian Benepe, commissioner, New York City Department of Parks & Recreation.

“It is a testament to the spirit of the BMW Guggenheim Lab that it has left behind a better public space than it originally found. … A permanent, tangible improvement is now added to the intellectual and social benefits the Lab gave the people of our city.”

The Lab is currently en route to the second stop on its nine-city world tour, Berlin. From the German capital, the Lab will then head to Mumbai, where it will conclude its first two-year cycle under the theme ‘Confronting Comfort’.

Like its counterpart in the Big Apple, the BMW Guggenheim Lab Berlin will be housed in a pop-up structure designed by Tokyo-based architects Atelier Bow-Wow. Germany will see a range of free programmes exploring issues confronting urban life, including empowerment technologies, dynamic connections, urban micro-lens and the ‘Senseable City’.

“In its 53 days, the New York Lab welcomed more than 54,000 visitors from 60 countries, and 329,000 people from 168 countries visited the Lab’s website,” says Richard Armstrong, director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum & Foundation. “With the appointment of the Berlin Lab Team, and the range of experience and interests they bring to the project, we are excited to see how this initiative will continue to evolve and further the Guggenheim’s commitment to education, scholarship, and design innovation.”

By Mark Terry

The performances will take place at London’s Tate Modern for live streaming but without a physical audience. Online viewers will be able to communicate with each other via e-mail and social media channels. Each performance will then be archived and available to view on the BMW Tate Live page.

“The development of technology has transformed people’s approach to art,” says Chris Dercon, director, Tate Modern. “Audiences today expect more interaction, participation and personalisation than ever before. BMW Tate Live will answer this need. BMW Tate Live will bring live art performance directly to people on the web, wherever they are in the world.”

“The transnational programme that has been brought into being with this trendsetting institution proves once more that for the BMW Group intercultural dialogue is not only desirable, but provides the basic concept for an internationally successful company,” says Dr. Uwe Ellinghaus, director brand steering, brand management BMW. “I am personally excited that we are intensifying this dialogue in London with BMW Tate Live and thus promoting it throughout the world.”

Once the user has fired up the app, it displays nearby stretches of road which others have contributed as the best ones in the area.

“A social app succeeds when it forms a community of users with similar interests. A mobile app succeeds when it shrinks that large community into something local and familiar,” says Pawan Murthy, general manager of online business for BMW Group Financial Services on the marketing campaign.

“Within a few seconds of opening the app, The Ultimate Drive connects you to driving enthusiasts who have discovered great roads in your neighborhood – roads you may have overlooked. Sharing that joy of discovery is why we are eager to launch this app to everyone.”

By Steve Mullins

The BMW Guggenheim Lab is a mobile laboratory which will travel to nine major cities around the world over the next six years. It’s led by interdisciplinary teams in the areas of urbanism, architecture, art, design, science, technology, education, and sustainability, and its goal is to develop ‘forward-thinking solutions’ for city life.

Early New York happenings include a screening of Celine Danhier’s Blank City, a history of young artists and musicians in New York’s East Village and Lower East Side, a talk on the principals of the Rotterdam-based architecture studio ZUS Zones Urbaines Sensibles and an I Meditate NY meditation programme.

“Part urban think tank, part community center and public gathering space, the Lab is conceived to inspire public discourse in cities around the world and through the BMW Guggenheim Lab website and online social communities,” the brand says.