Design 2, Weeks 5-12 Semester 2, 2008
The space of food is all around us. Food-related activities occur in a great many places and shape much of the built environment, indoors and out. Even though the food practices of a particular period and culture influence the design of restaurants, cafes and markets, barns, fields and other spaces of food, they are also relatively free of spatial or physical constraints. [ . . .] we encounter examples of this each day: steps or a low wall are sites of eating and drinking, pavements and car parks are popular locations for selling food, or a rooftop may become a vegetable garden. The presence of food often generates a feeling of intimacy, sometimes just for a short time, and even before we eat: a lunch truck at the side of the road, a picnic spread out on a blanket.
Karen A Franck, “The Space of Food’, AD, vol 72, no 6, Nov/Dec 2002
Food takes up space. The production, distribution, preparation, and consumption of food takes place in a variety of spaces. From vast agricultural enterprise and global distribution networks to an intimate meal in a domestic setting or a bowl of rice in a refugee camp the space of food varies. Food is an essential item for our existence; the space of food is an inescapable part of the environment, urban and rural. Food, food supply and food safety are a key aspect of the global geo-political structure.
This project asks you to think hard about food. The project will work towards the design of space for the production, distribution and/or consumption of food at a particular scale.
Food[space] Project timeline:
Part 1: utensil weeks 5-6
Part 2: food[pace] weeks 6-7
Part 3: cook: design for food weeks 8-10
serve: crit week prep week 11
eat: design 2 crits week 12
Food[space] Part 1:Prototype Utensil
Have you ever tried to eat chocolate with a knife and fork? A banana with chopsticks? Noodles with a teaspoon?
Your task is to design and fabricate a tool for eating with. First you must decide on the food you want to prepare, then you must come up with a unique way of eating it.
Utensils throughout history have been composed of a variety of materials - stone, clay, bone, ivory, wood, plant fibers, glass, and metal. These various materials illustrate the cultural development of food technologies for storing, preparing, cooking, serving and eating of food. Today fast-foods are accompanied by plastic utensils or disposable chopsticks reflecting a preference for convenience over sustainability. Upmarket restaurants serving fine cuisine often favour damask napkins and heavy silverware in an effort to promote an image of style and sophistication. The materials used to produce utensils say as much about the social setting in which they are being used as they do about the food being served.
Utensils have a physical relationship with the body. Utensils help to keep the body clean, and stop the transmission of dirt or germs from the hands to the mouth. Utensils can usually be held comfortably in the hand, and fit safely inside the mouth. However, if you have ever watched a baby learning how to eat you will know how physically challenging it can be to use unfamiliar utensils for the first time!
In most societies there are codes of conduct governing the proper and correct way to use utensils. You may want to invent your own set of rules on how to use your utensils. Below is an step by step guide written specifically for Americans wanting instruction on how to use a knife and fork in England:
Step One Pick up the knife with your right hand and the fork with the left, with the handles in the palms of your hands. Step Two Ensure that the sharp edge of the knife and the tines of the fork are pointing towards the plate. Step Three Place the index finger of your right hand along the top edge of the knife. Position the index finger of your left hand on the back of the fork. Step Four Spear food with the fork and cut with the knife, pushing the food with the knife against the tines of the fork. Step Five Lift food to your mouth with the fork, always keeping the tines pointing down. Step Six Rest the cutlery on your plate at a position of 20 past 8, if you want to take a drink. After drinking, pick up both knife and fork again simultaneously.
From http://www.ehow.com
In designing and fabricating your utensil consider:
The cultural and social norms of eating, how these might have changed over time, and how you might challenge these
The spatial environment and its relationship to the food object – the hand and the mouth/ the body the mouth, many bodies and mouths?
The formal qualities of the food (shape and size, texture, level of solidity/liquidity, aroma, temperature)
The material and haptic qualities of the utensil (toxicity?)
The connection between food and utensil (cupping, holding, piercing, scooping . . . )
The lifespan of the utensil
Food[space] part 1: utensil
Demonstration banquet, Tuesday 26 August 9-12am., level 3 exhibition space
For the demonstration you will need to bring both the food/dish that you have designed your utensil for and the utensil itself. We will have a banquet in which the utensils will be demonstrated. Bring your camera and a change of shirt (if your eating might be messy!)
Image:
| You are here - eating. From the archives (Rome, Italy |
| October 13, 2006 at 16:59 |
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