The school will attempt to bridge the gap between the fields of Architecture and Contemporary Gastronomy Play With Your Food is an instalment of the AA Visiting School that is to be set in San Juan, Puerto Rico, USA, in April/June 2014. The school will attempt to bridge the gap between the fields of Architecture and Contemporary Gastronomy; associate the similarities and differences of both in ord
er to discover intrinsic characteristics and establish relationships between the two, whilst also attempting to feed and grow the knowledge base, design approach and thought processes of both fields in a very experimental yet practical manner. Both disciplines are constantly in flux, and open to progression thru many available means. Whether in Architecture it be by developing new 3d analytical software or a modelling program that aids in the rationalisation of a highly complex geometry or structure in real time so that it can be more easily understood and be more easily represented to a client or another proponent in the field. Or in Molecular Gastronomy it be by creating a new technique for the presentation of a dish that involves research into the chemical makeup of a certain ingredient or series of ingredients that when combined create a certain manner for display and presentation not thought possible; one which evokes feelings and senses simply through the taste and smell and look of a dish that would be unheard of 10 years prior. Both fields are undergoing revolutionary changes in practice and research, and are constantly reinventing themselves thru the works of some of the most exciting practitioners and researchers in the most exciting international offices/ research institutes/ schools and the most exciting international kitchens and culinary institutes, which makes them a very exciting duo. Parallels between food and architecture
The future of design brings new alternatives to the ways in which humans live, work, behave, and can even affect and control their consumption habits. Nowadays, we have chemical and physical alterations that affect everything we do or consume or inhabit, whether it is from the clothes we wear, to the food we eat, or the air we breathe, or even the environment in which we choose to live. The future of food in parallel relies on scientists and designers. There are new technologies that allow us to alter chemical components and properties of the foods and beverages we consume. It is now possible to print in edible materials using the same technology that an architect or product designer would use to print a 3d model for a presentation or study on the geometry of a simple object or a highly complex one. From these new inventions and advances, have emerged a new typology of designer in the kitchen. These edible material experiments and processes bring about a new dimension in texture and structure while allowing the exploration of endless possibilities on aesthetics.
“We cook today the way we cooked in the middle ages”
Food has always been directly correlated to the development of urbanism. The rise of new, revolutionary technologies has blurred the boundaries between the two in an even greater manner than one could ever imagine. Feeding the city has always been a necessity, and was aided by the advent of the machine age. This however has had a direct impact on the growth of the city and urban sprawl associated with the city. Urban centres used to be constrained by the supply of food, and the yield of crops and their close proximity to city centres. But as faster methods of transport were developed, this in turn allowed the urban centre to extend it’s breadth, and we were no longer constrained by our food sourcing or limitations in proximity, and the world along with all of it’s urban centre’s are better connected than ever before. A person can consume Japanese Grown Tajima-ushi bread Kobe Beef in Johannesburg,
South Africa a mere 15 hours after it was processed, meaning anywhere in the world, one can consume something that goes from the farm to the table in less than a day. This is a revolutionary idea to ponder, and is very similar to new methods of production and construction in the architectural sense. The design and construction of a building has become so integrated that the time it takes for something revolutionary to be completed is a mere fraction of what it once was. From all of these revolutionary ideas and knowledge bases has sprouted the main concept of this workshop. How can an architect design a plate that includes material concept, construction and perception in a smaller, constrained environment that takes into consideration the knowledge that we now have about architectural practices and technologies and contemporary molecular gastronomy and all of it’s nuances. The workshop will focus on the creation of a dish with all of the intrinsic qualities embedded in the chemical aspects of the dish and it’s materials, and how one is to best produce, present and evoke these sorts of emotions. Material juxtapositions are an interesting characteristic for exploration, and are encouraged in order to trick or alter one’s perception of reality, such as watermelon being used as a substitute for caviar in an unexpected manner. In parallel with these central ideas that are focused around molecular gastronomy and architecture and how they are conceptually very similar and very much alike is the idea of Place. Place is a very important characteristic related to both Architecture and Gastronomy or any manner of culinary exploration for that matter. There is so much that is derived from ones setting in either practice that makes this characteristic so important to the concept of Architecture as a form of Molecular Gastronomy and vice versa. Puerto Rico, not unlike any other setting is one that has a particular set of both Architectural and Gastronomical methods that have been developed over many hundreds of years, and have been finely tuned and moulded into what they are today. There is a very specific set of materials both architectural and culinary that are prepared through a specific set of processes. This is what is so interesting, and makes this Visiting School so relevant due to the focus that it will apply to both. We are curious to see whether what has been the status quo can be informed by our studies in architecture and the culinary field, and whether or not we can alter these in any way via a concept that makes something not necessarily better, but more relevant for the current setting and place. Concrete is one of the most common building materials in this place. Concrete as an architectural material is very interesting, and is something that is very relevant to the school due to it’s pliable nature. It can be relatively easily moulded and transformed or used in ways that may have not been thought of even 10 years ago. This pliable nature of the material is something that we look forward to exploring, not necessarily in a large enough scale where Concrete will be applied, but it is nevertheless something that will be a constant influence on the students work at a smaller scale. Because just like concrete there are many ingredients in the culinary world that are just as mouldable and very related on a conceptual level. Just as concrete is very specific and relevant to Puerto Rico in an Architectural sense...so are many ingredients and processes in a culinary sense. Four very integral concepts for Puerto Rican cuisine are that of FRYING, ROASTING, AGING, and STEWING. Each will be explored annually with this year’s inaugural adaptation focusing on the process and concept of FRYING. There is rarely a dish in Puerto Rico that lacks some manner of fried ingredient. Most common to the plate of any eatery in San Juan will be quite possibly any variety or combination of Tostones, Mofongo, and Alcapurria [the first two dishes are comprised of plantains, whereas the latter is a meat filled cassava tuber]. These fried delicacies are not only delicious, but have a loose set of processes for their production, which all depend on the chef creating them. What is to be questioned is the processes of achieving any one of these types of dishes. Is there an architectural concept or a design concept that can be applied to these things that relates to their preparation, process, or presentation that will better the overall eating experience? Can we as architects apply architectural concepts to traditional food production methods to have a lasting impact or influence on Contemporary Gastronomy. Or can the design of food through the employing of architectural concepts, techniques, and possibly methods for fabrication produce an architecturally textured food that is relevant to the discourse? Because it is a necessity to derive any design from a strong concept, we will investigate how one can apply strong design concepts to that of the process of cooking, and see if we can come up with a totally new approach to the idea of frying traditional Puerto Rican dishes. In doing so, the students will be given the opportunity to expand their ideas of what architecture is in its present capacity, and same for contemporary gastronomy, and how the ideas of both can influence one another. We will be working at the scale of food to create temporary pieces of culinary architecture that are presented on lasting pieces of small scale architectural design, which will directly influence the design and presentation of a traditional Puerto Rican fried dish. Along with designing and preparing the presentation of these dishes, the students will be encouraged to explore ideas and concepts that are completely new to both Architecture/design and Molecular/Contemporary Gastronomy. These concepts will not only be influenced by the architectural and design knowledge of the tutors but will also involve lectures from practitioners in both fields, that of design and that of cooking. The lectures by the directors as well as other practitioners will also be accompanied by a series of field trips to explore the processes and techniques of certain types of food products indigenous to Puerto Rico, as well as an exploration of certain architectural examples that are relevant to the course. It is the intent that this rounded approach to design wherein the students learn by doing, but also experiencing is something that will positively influence and nurture new ideas and concepts for designing a plated, food-based architecture not previously thought possible. MEDIA SPONSORS
ARCHINECT
BUSTLER
