Design Food: Culinary Architecture.

Food is a real catalyst for imagination and creativity. As such, it has always had a fundamental relationship with design and the arts. It’s something I’ve personally drawn inspiration from for various reasons. Along with design, food is one of my greatest loves – not that you’d be able to tell from my girlish figure – ha! No, but seriously, growing up in former Yugoslavia, food has been a fundamental part of my culture, and it’s something many of you will be able to relate to, I’m sure. Food is how we expressed our love for friends and family, how we came together to socialise, celebrate, even mourn.

Of course, we are not here today to discuss that particular aspect of my love of food. Far from it, as most of the dishes I would’ve eaten as a child, or continue to consume until this day, have been far from perfectly plated.

Today we look at food that unites design and art in the most fantastic of ways. The kind of food that’s elevated into art itself, with an unapologetic conceptual bend (I mean, this is Yellowtrace after all, you guys!). This is not the sort of stuff you are going to want to try at home, but it’s most definitely the stuff you will be seeking when dreaming up your next creative concept that goes beyond the obvious. (I know, I know, I’ve just described another regular day for you all… Boring!)

Anyway!

I am super excited today to bring you the first story in our three-part content series in association with Smeg, in which we will explore the intersection of food and design. As an Italian company committed to the finest quality and high-end design, there’s a seamless alignment and a synergy between the Smeg brand and our content which positions food as an edible designed product that marries style with technology.

Today’s roundup delves into Food Architecture – edible moments that are sculptural, spatial, inspiring, interactive, visionary and radically contemporary. Although most of these examples negate any reference to cooking, tradition and gastronomy, this food seeks to fuel our creativity and nourish our spirit, rather than just our bellies.

Perfetto!

Related:
Design Food: Raw Ingredients.
Design Food: Styled Ingredients.

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York by Frank Lloyd Wright. Icing, Gingerbread, Cotton Candy, Candy wrappers, licorice, sugar.

Karuizawa Museum in Nagano by Yasui Hideo. Chocolate, gingerbread, rohardck candy, cotton candy, sour flush.

MAXXI National Museum of the 21st Century Arts in Rome by Zaha Hadid. Gingerbread, hard candy, lollipop stick.

Museum Aan de Stroom (MAS) in Antwerp by Neutelings Riedijk Architects. Gingerbread, lego candy, hard candy, sesame candy, chocolate, bubble gum, sour rolls.

The Louvre in Paris. Pyramid extension by I.M.Pei. Gingerbread, hard candy, licorice.

Museo Soumaya in Mexico City by Fernando Romero. Candy balls, gingerbread, sour rolls, taffy.

Tate Modern in London. Modern extensions by Herzog & de Meuron. Gingerbread, hard candy, cotton candy, bubble gum

Seven Famous Art Galleries Recreated with Gingerbread and Candy by Caitlin Levin and Henry Hargreaves // While candy is fun, colourful, and anything but serious, food artists Caitlin Levin and Henry Hargreaves were excited by the challenge to take it to the next level. Art Basel seemed like the perfect place to showcase their ability to turn the traditional gingerbread house on its head and reinvent the medium.

Seeing they were part of an art festival, recreating iconic art galleries and museums from around the globe seemed fitting. An interest in architecture spurred a focus on recreating graphic architectural images shot in black and white, while also being a deliberate antidote to the vivid colours and sweetness often associated with the medium. Like most projects taken on by the pair, Caitlin and Henry were met with their share of challenges. How does one make the Louvre’s glass pyramid from candy, and what is the best method to strengthen thousands of candy brick to turn them into the support walls of the MAS Antwerp or curve the walls of Zaha Hadid’s Maxxi in Rome? In the end, these beautiful and fun images emerged – a little bit fine art and a pinch of Candyland. Bravo!

Tradizione, Costruzione (Tradition, Construction) by Gemma Tickle, photographed by Aaron Tilley for The Gourmand, issue 03 // This unique shoot from 2013 saw set designer Gemma Tickle, and photographer Aaron Tilley join forces to create their homage to Italian architecture, using the country’s most famous food – pasta. The duo created five different architectural elements made of five different types of pasta, including a stair, a floor, a Roman column, a shingled roof and a curtain. Genius!

Salmon Fishing Hut.

Blue Cheese Spiral Staircase.

Turkey Curtain.

Pistachio Chocolate Chess Floor.

An Architectural Food Tour by Tekla Severin for The Gourmand // Stockholm-based interior architect, Tekla Severin, works in the multidisciplinary field of art direction, set design and photography. Severin art directed and photographed a sensational architectural food tour that takes us through the details of buildings located in various places and eras, ranging from Norway, Amalfi coast and the USA. You can see more from this shoot here.

Winter Games by Kyle Bean, Aaron Tilley & Iain Graham for Kinfolk Magazine // London based artist Kyle Bean collaborated with photographer Aaron Tilley and food stylist Iain Graham on a fun project for Kinfolk Magazine. Created for the winter 2014 issue, the trio made a series of games that are constructed from typical winter treats. Shown here is the cheese and cracker house of cards and shortbread Jenga.

Pasta Pillar by Gemma Tickle, photographed by Aaron Tilley for The Gourmand // Created to sit amongst guests at a party celebrating Italian cuisine, this Pasta Pillar was constructed using only perspex and spaghetti. The structure is simple and strong and, if cooked, could probably feed the whole party for months.

Photography by Ruth Clark, courtesy of Jupiter Artland.

Edible Dark Chocolate Room by Anya Gallaccio at Jupiter Artland // From small food architectural elements to entire spaces. For Jupiter Artland in 2014, Scottish artist Anya Gallaccio made an installation out of her favourite material – chocolate. Gallaccio used 40 kilos of 70% cocoa solid, confectioner-quality dark chocolate – the same stuff they use to make handmade truffles. Dubbed ‘Stroke’, the installation took three days to complete, with walls of an old farm building perfuming the room with an overwhelming scent. The desire to interact by picking, licking or stroking the chocolate covered walls was almost compulsive. What is beautiful, as so often in this artist’s practice, becomes putrid and decayed.

Architectural Jelly by Bompas & Parr // What happens when you merge food, architecture and art? You get Bompas & Parr, a genius double act that believes that anything is possible. London-based ‘architectural food-smith’ duo design spectacular food experiences often working on an architectural scale with cutting edge technology.

With no formal training in catering (Bompas studied geography and Parr studied architecture), they decided to “do something fun for the summer”, which was initially going to be a jelly stand at Borough Market in London. Since 2007, the duo have become famous for their jellies, their parties, and their wackiness including ‘Alcoholic Architecture’ – a walk in cloud of breathable G&T at a pop-up bar in Soho (gold!), scratch and sniff cinema, 2,000-person architectural jelly food fight, a bowl of punch big enough to row a boat across and a massive glowing jelly installation for San Francisco MOMA. Extreme love!

San Francisco in Jell-O by Liz Hickok.

Bay Bridge, from San Francisco in Jell-O series by Liz Hickok.

City Hall, from San Francisco in Jell-O series by Liz Hickok.

Lower Manhattan, from Jelly NYC series by Liz Hickok.

One Broadway, from Jelly NYC series by Liz Hickok.

Installation view of Jelly NYC by Liz Hickok at Pratt Manhattan Gallery.

San Francisco & NYC made from Jell by Liz Hickok // Speaking of jelly, San Francisco-based artist, Liz Hickok, draws inspiration from her immediate surroundings, where the geological uncertainties of the landscape evoke uncanny parallels with the gelatinous material. “I construct my own vision of city locations with props and backdrops as if they were small movie sets,” she says. Her site-specific Jell-O installations introduce the viewer to a more physical experience involving smell, movement and the desire to taste. Because the sculptures decay over time, the photographs and videos remain as the only record of their existence.

Hickok has also created a series videos that shows San Francisco’s Marina District rattled by an earthquake and subsequent tidal wave, with buildings shaking and becoming engulfed in a gelatinous flood. As the “water” subsides, the neighbourhood melts away into a messy ooze. Watch the video here.

Continuing on the same theme, her Jelly NYC series explores the vulnerability of Lower Manhattan, evolved from a sculptural installation created for the Pratt Manhattan Gallery in 2011.

Architectural Cakes by Dinara Kasko // So… What do you think happens when an architecture graduate turns to baking deserts? You get architectural mini-masterpieces executed with next-level anal retentiveness of the highest order, of course. Dinara Kasko is a 28 years old pastry chef from Ukraine, who took to baking as a hobby, but it quickly turned into a massive passion. After working as an architect-designer and a 3D visualiser, Kasko simply became more interested in pastry.

“I liked what I was doing as an architect, but now I’m more interested in Patisserie. From the moment I got into Patisserie, I decided to try to add something new into it. I realised that the appearance is as important as taste. I tried to model my own moulds and print them with 3D printer and I liked what I got. I wanted to try more and more in Patisserie and I can’t stop – I’m studying, modelling and baking.” Sounds like there’s no holding this young woman back!

William Lamson, Solarium, 2012. Materials: Steel, glass, sugar, citrus trees. Dimensions: 10′ 10″ x 8′ 11″ x 10′ 3 3⁄8 in.

 

Solarium by William Lamson // I know. It looks like an ordinary glass house. But it is? Of course not! Like a mountain chapel or Thoreau’s one-room cabin, Solarium references a tradition of isolated outposts designed for reflection. Each of the 162 panels is made of sugar cooked to different temperatures and then sealed between two panes of window glass. The space functions as both an experimental greenhouse, growing three species of miniature citrus trees, and a meditative environment.

In warm months, a pivot panel on each side of the house opens up to allow viewers to enter and exit the house from all directions. In addition to creating a pavilion like environment, this design references the architecture of a plant leaf, where the stomata opens and closes to help regulate the plants’ temperature. Set within the open the landscape, the house functions as a hybrid sanctuary at once evoking a plant conservatory, a chapel, and zen garden.

Solarium was commissioned by Storm King for the Light and Landscape show in 2012.

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Break Bread Cake Maze Installation by Scott Hove and Baker’s Son // In 2016, Scott Hove created a colossal six-room immersive cake labyrinth inside LA’s Think Tank Gallery. Each room was expertly decorated and finished with real sweets. “It really captures peoples’ emotions and imagination immediately when they walk in,” Scott Hove told the Los Angeles Times. “People have a lot of positive associations with cake. It appeals to a very primitive part of our brain.” But the exhibit wasn’t as innocent as it looked, as it also contained a dark twist – a crime scene with a creme-covered basketball court where someone was shot and killed. Hove’s installation was meant to be at once decadent and repulsive.

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Pits and Pyramids by Sam Kaplan // Photographer Sam Kaplan‘s obsession with order and patterns has led to a still life series where biscuits and tea cakes were turned into semi-architectural structures. Dubbed ‘Pits and Pyramids’, the series see various baked treats arranged as triangular towers and deep descending craters, resulting in colour-coordinated mesmerising geometric patterns that are good enough to eat. Yum!

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Complements Chocolate Modular System by Universal Favourite // It’s modular chocolate designed to pair & share. Sydney-based legends at Universal Favourite designed Complements as an end-of-year gift for their collaborators. Blending 3D printing, design, and a collaboration with Sydney artisans of sweetness, Bakedown Cakery, Complements became modular chocolates of different flavours. They’re delicious on their own, but once combined, something truly special happens – a uniquely mouthwatering flavour greater than the sum of its parts.

“After exploring a wide range of interlocking shape designs, for maximum flexibility, and an elegant finish, we chose a clean, modular staircase shape for each piece, which combined with another flavour, creates a single bite-sized cube. We used 3D printing to create the bite-size cube, which went on to form the perfect chocolate mould.” Brilliant on so many levels.

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Nendo‘s Ice Cream Village Cake for Haagen Dazs // In 2014, Nendo created an ice cream cake that featured a group of small chocolate houses. Intended to remind people of returning home for the holidays, these architectural ice creams were created for the Christmas season and were sold at the Häagen-Dazs Champs Élysées store in Paris.

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Sam Kaplan’s Architectural Arrangements Made With Slices of Gum // In his series called Unwrapped, New York-photographer Sam Kaplan crafted colourful models of futuristic architecture made from thousands of sticks of Double Mint and 5 Gum to create abstract versions of Brutalist buildings. Kaplan created a dedicated space in his studio, where he worked on sculptures when he wasn’t on assignment, unwrapping some 3,000 sticks before carefully gluing them together in small clusters. Each sculpture took as long as 15 hours to make, and while they look enormous, the largest one is just 1 foot (300mm) tall.

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Photography by Cordoleani & Fontana.

 

Azucar by Sebastien Cordoleani & Franck Fontana // This series of experiments with sugar by Sebastien Cordoleani and Franck Fontana was inspired by the glass manufacturing processes (pouring, deforming, pressing, moulding, blowing). The project was the winner of the Grand prix Design Parade held at Villa Noailles in 2008.

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Edible Surfaces by Arantza Vilas, Leslie Vanderleeuw and Erik Spande // London based textile designer Arantza Vilas of Pinaki Studios collaborated with Leslie Vanderleeuw, Erik Spande a premium chocolate retailer Chocolatl to create edible architectural surfaces. The result is ‘Edible Surfaces’, which draws inspiration from the processes of chocolate artisans and textile manipulations such as pleating, creasing and embossing. The project is a perfect intersection of design, craft, food and materials, investigating parallels in the technical methods of those crafts, as well as inventive concepts for the development of edible objects.

 

This Yellowtrace Promotion is proudly brought to you in association with Smeg.

 

 

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[Images courtesy of the designers & photographers as noted.]