人们可以设计家饰、设计服装、设计自己的居所，您可曾想过可以设计每日取用的食物吗？现如今，食物已不只是解决温饱这么简单，更承担起了越来越多的文化诉求，与习惯传统，甚至与战略安全相关。食物设计这个概念，正是基于这些研究探索，而不是一般所说的精湛刀工、绝美摆盘等等。
It is not uncommon to hear the terms fashion design or interior design, but it’s less common to hear someone speak of FOOD DESIGN. Is it possible for us to design our food? As we know, food is not merely a secondary by product of culture, but rather it is a large center piece in our cultural experience related to customs, traditions, and even security. It is more than just exquisite knife work and beautiful plating. Rather, food design is the culmination of extensive research on culture.
食物未来研究学者涂蕴雯，现于美国旧金山从事食物设计方面的咨询和商业创新服务，她所设计的的概念作品《肉肉狂想曲》，试图将肉类蛋白质以植物的方式生产出来，以此来解决未来可能面临的食物短缺问题。关于更多精彩有趣的脑洞，请看以下《侨福读库Vol.4》所带来的采访。
Tu Yunwen, a food researcher, is currently engaged in consultation and business innovation services in food design in San Francisco, USA. Her conceptual work, Protein Fantasy, is designed to try to produce meat proteins in vegetables in order to solve possible food shortages in the future. And, the ultimate goal of her exploration is to design a self-explanatory and re-defined “form” of food. Sounds interesting? Then, follow Parkview Green Index Vol. 4 to learn more about Tu Yunwen and Protein Fantasy, and get inspired!
Q&A
Q: 食物设计是什么？这个概念是什么时候提出的？
A: 我觉得每个设计师对食物设计有不同的理解吧，设计本身是一个可简单可复杂的过程，当食物在这个过程中起到重要的作用了，就可以算是食物设计。在我的设计过程中，我通过食物来研究人、科技和文化之间的交互关系，从而挖掘未来人和环境可能产生的变化和趋势。概念的历史我追溯不到了，一个比较有名的设计师Martí Guixé，做的第一个食物设计是在1995年。感觉这个概念流行起来是在过去的十年间。
Q: What is food design? When was the concept firstly put forward?
A: I think designers hold varied understandings of food design. Design, in itself, can be both simple and complicated. If food functions prominently in the process, it can be called food-centered design. In my design, I take food as the media to study the interactions among people, technologies, and culture to unravel the possible changes and trends that people and the environment may experience in the future.I can't remember the very beginning when the concept was proposed. But a famous designer, Martí Guixé, came out with the first food design in 1995. It seems that it is in the past ten years that the concept gained its popularity.
Q: 这两张图很有趣，里面有很多关键词“文化”“食物”“科技”等等，能解释下吗？
A: 图一的最上面是我食物设计中所研究的主题；中间是以我工业设计的背景来看到食物设计的过程中，我们可以通过什么方法或者以什么样的目标来做食物设计；底部是我观察到的设计世界，从过去我们一直在强调的人本设计，到食物设计，都是整个圈子里的一小部分。现在看来，人本设计是设计的主流，甚至被许多设计师当做唯一的真理，但它其实也对环境和我们的生活带来了正面和负面的影响，所以我试图把食物设计从人本设计剥离开、当做单独的门类看，看我们还可以做什么样的设计，我发现，它们有重叠的部分，无法统一的部分。
图二是我对目前以消费和资本驱动的工业食物生产系统的调研，这是以美国为参考的总结，但同时也可能是一个全球的趋势，希望能从反面去让大家看到食物和设计的关系，还有当下环境中潜在的各种问题，这也是我设计《肉肉狂想》的契机。
Q: The two pictures with many keywords like "culture" "food" "technology" seem interesting. Can you explain it?
A: On top of the first pictures my research subject of food design. In the middle are the methods and goals in food design based on my industrial design background. At the bottom is what I observed in design; what we have been emphasizing, from people-oriented design to the food design, takes only a small part of the whole design realm. People-oriented design now dominates and even becomes the utmost pursuit of many designers, but as it brings two-sided impact on the environment and our lives, I tried to separate food design from it as a breakthrough. I find the twohave similarities and disparities.
The second one is my research on current industrial food production system, which is driven by consumption and capital. Concluded from American reality, it may also mirror a global trend. I want to draw people’s attention to think in an opposite way the relationship between food and design as well as the under lying environmental problems. This is my motivation for designing Protein Fantasy.
Q: 你认为在食物设计中的材料是什么？
A: 我认为食物设计中的是材料包含两个类别，其中一个是实体看得见摸得着的食材。首先当然是考虑以食用为目的食材，那么食物设计的重点需要很好的理解以味觉为主的感官体验和食材生长、制造的来源。在设计食用体验的时候，需要考虑食材之间、与人（身体和心理）、与环境、与记忆的交互。食材可能是一个临场的纯感官体验，可能是我们身体所需要的能量，可能是通过味道打开我们记忆的开关……这里我觉得食物设计处在烹饪和饮食体验的创新之间，很多时候会比较依赖烹饪、食品科学、生物科学的专业——这可以参考很多设计师和工程师的合作，例如研究可行性、研究这样的体验设计能否好好发挥这个食材的性格、探讨这个设计的combination到底是否合理，以及我们是否能达到预期的美学目标，和是否能给使用者带来我们期待的体验和信息等等。
Q: What materials do you think can be used in food design?
A: Mainly two categories. One is tangible edible material food design needs to factor the taste centered sensory experience, the source of food and how the food was processed. We need to consider how ingredients, people (physical and psychological elements), environment and memories interact with each other. The others are intangible materials. Food might be about pure sensory experiences, about getting over hunger and obtain in genergy we need, oras the switch that awakens our memories through flavor. Food design, I think, stands between the innovation of cooking techniques and that of eating experiences, which is dependent on cooking techniques, food science, and biological sciences. We can find the cooperation between designers and engineers on issues like feasibility of producing a certain food, the best approach to maximize food features, and whether the combination is reasonable, whether we can achieve the expected aesthetic goals, and whether the usage can get us what we expect.
Q: 你在这种实体材料的“食材”方面做了哪些有趣的研究？
A: 我做了一件叫做《肉肉狂想》的设计，是对未来食材的一种探索，是基于对新的生物科技的研究，食材还是肉、蛋白质食品，但它背后是我们生产的方式的改变，食物供应链的改变，这些必定影响我们如何去重新定义食物和它的形态。我最近在欧洲参加一个会议认识了Kitchen Theory的一个主厨，他告诉我，他们在做的研究就是跟那些研究感官体验、人和食物交互的researchers合作，真的有很多博士在研究人在不同环境对嗅觉、味觉等感官的感受能力，把这些触觉、视觉等语言运用到分子理中去，这是食物设计、烹饪的另一极，是在过去我们无法想象的。
Q: What interesting researches have you done with the tangible “ingredients”?
A: I designed Protein Fantasy to explore future ingredients based on studies of new biotechnology. Meat and protein remained as main ingredients, which, however, mirrors the underlying change of production methods, food-supply chainsas well as our life. All these are bound to affect how were define food and their forms. Not long ago, I met a chef of Kitchen Theory at a conference in Europe. He told me they are working with researchers who study multi-sensory experiences and interactions between people and food. There are indeed many PhDs studying the sensory capabilities of people in different environments and applying the visual and tactual languages into molecular gastronomy. This is another end of spectrum of food design and cooking, which is beyond our imagination in the past.
Q: 所以《肉肉狂想曲》是新食材的探索，除了未来新材料、新食材，设计师在旧材料、旧食材方面还有哪些新研究吗？
A: 有很多。从目前比较常规的工业设计类专业来说，任何未释放出的、未被探索过的具有美感的材料或者制造工艺，任何有了新的环保潜力的材料和工艺，都是值得我们探索的，而食物当中自然不乏这样未被充分探索的内容。
我也做过这方面的尝试，曾经用制作果冻的吉利丁，设计了一组灯具——《分子美食灯》。是因为偶然发现了光源透过泡沫会折射出很美的视觉效果，于是我进行了一系列的材料实验，最后选用吉利丁结合其他材料，设计出了这个立体且比较耐用的灯。但是食物本身带有一种短暂易逝的美感——因而这件作品也可以是一个短暂使用后就被回收的灯。还有一个叫Lanzavecchia + Wai的设计团队，他们用糖做了茶几的台面，会随着时间一点点融化消失，他们想通过这个探讨现在复杂设计中真正有设计意义的极简的成分是什么，而其他浮华的装饰设计比作糖，讨喜却没有真正的实用价值。
Q: Protein Fantasy is obviously an exploration for new food, what other researchers have the designers done regarding traditional ingredients?
A: There’s been plenty of researches. For current typical industrial designers, any material or manufacturing process that is unexplored yet possesses aesthetic value, or harbors new potentialfor recycling are worth exploring, and of course, there is much exploration to be done ingastronomy. I myself have made such attempts by using gelatin, the same ingredient for making puddings, to design lights Icall Gastronomic Light. The inspiration behind this is my discovery by chance that refraction caused by light passing through bubbles are beautiful, so I set about experimenting with different materials and finally decided to use gelatin and several other materials to design a 3D durable light.
Yet as food itself represents atransient beauty, this light can also be recycled after brief use. There was also a design team called Lanzavecchia+Wai, which used sugar to make table surfaces that melt slowly. They wanted to discuss what makes up the truly meaningful and simple part ofa complex design, while comparing the rest of the superficial decorations with sugar, which are appealing but have no practical value. Working with researchers who study multi-sensory experiences and interactions between people and food. There are indeed many PhDs studying the sensory capabilities of people in different environments and applying the visual and tactual languages into molecular gastronomy. This is another end of spectrum of food design and cooking, which is beyond our imagination in the past.
Q: 你们的作品用我们比较熟悉的食材探索了新的产品，最后的结果很有趣，是可降解的、环保的，并且和材料本身可食用的性能巧妙呼应。
A: 没错，研究新材料、尝试旧材料的新可能，有趣的远不止有这些，还有很多食物设计师针对食物生产和消费过程中产生的副产品和废料，最大化它们的价值，进行转化设计——这无疑提倡了一种新的环保理念，鼓励人们重新思考我们生活生产中丢弃的东西是否还有别的价值，以及我们能否用一种更易降解的材料去制造工业产品。我曾经做过一个项目——《种子工坊》，就是用食材副产品和餐厅旧菜单（很多餐厅过了季节就会更换菜单，这也是我们消费食物过程中产生的一种浪费）加上种子，在户外教人用这些材料做纸，从而尽可能利用废弃材料，创造新的体验，并且让小孩们通过玩、做手工，来学习食物作为生命的起始和终点，也让他们了解食物最初的来源是种子而不是超市（不知道这是不是美国特有的现象，很多小孩并不知道食物是哪里来的）——算是用这些材料创造了新一层的教育价值和使用价值，我学到一个词叫“ upcycle”还真不知道怎么翻译比较恰当。
还有个比较好的设计例子是设计师 Fernando Laposse用墨西哥玉米叶子设计制作的家具，在我眼中真的最大化了食物副产品的美学价值，以及概念上的实用价值（会这么说是因为成名一年，这个设计也没有听到跟品牌合作或者投产，所以我猜测在技术上可能还有需要考验的部分）。这一部分的趋势，我想是设计师不变的好奇心，人们也有越来越多能力去为美学消费，为环保可持续消费，同时近年来，人们生产力和消费力都在提高，这个世界上的物品其实已经过剩了，所以材料的可持续性、材料的回收最大化利用，已经变成设计界和艺术学校中比较流行的话题了。
Q: You explore the new possibilities of familiar ingredients, which delivered interesting results. You have the interesting design that is degradable and eco-friendly, and still preserves the key feature of edibility.
A: That’s right, we explore new ingredients while looking for new possibilities to existing ones, but the fun is far beyond this. Many food designers are maximizing the value of by products and wastes produced along with food production and consumption through transformative design.This undoubtedly advocates a new concept of eco-friendliness, which encourages people to rethink the untapped value of the discarded, and calls for the utilization of degradable materialsin manufacturing. I was once part of a project called the “Seed Work shop”, in which we taught people how to make paper in the outdoors by using food byproducts, used restaurant menus (many restaurants change their menus with the season, and this also causes waste in food consumption) and seeds. The purpose is to spark new experiences with discarded wastes and help children learn more about food through playing and making handicrafts. Hopefully they’ll learn the start and end of food, and that food comes from seeds originally instead of supermarkets. (I don’t know if this is only happening in the US, but many children don’t know where food comes from). Through theproject, we’ve given the materials new value of education and use.
There’s a good word for this, upcycle, which means the kind of recycle that brings the value of the object higher than itself. but Ihaven’t found the accurate equivalent in your language. Another example is the furniture made of Mexican corn leaves designed by Fernando Laposse,which I believe has maximized the aesthetic value of food byproducts, and their use value inconcept (I emphasized concept because within the whole year after the design was known to the public, there was no cooperation with any brands, nor was the products put in production, and presumably the technique behind it might need to get over some difficulties). Part of the reason for this trend of exploring gastronomyis the designers’ unwavering curiosity. Also, people are more capable to afford aesthetics and Eco-sustainability. The recentyears have witnessed an increase in both production and consumption, and the surplus of products isobvious. Hence, maximizing sustainability and recyclability has become trendy topics in the design industry and art schools.
Q: 除了摸得着的食材之外，还有什么能被称为是食物设计的材料呢？
A: 我认为是食物所携带的故事和文化。想想“材料”在设计中的定义已经不仅仅是指实体的物体了，在数码交互设计领域，google提出了材料设计，即是在数码的非实体视觉设计中融入物理的逻辑——轻重、阴影、空间关系等等——它是一种视觉的关系，也是谷歌做交互视觉设计的基础材料。这个“谷歌材料设计”的“材料”和我想在这个段落这说的“材料”不完全相等，但是我想用另一个设计领域的例子说明，“材料”不一定是摸得到的实体。
Q: In addition to the tangible ingredients, what else can be the materials for food design?
A: I think it must be the stories and culture behind food. Material, in the field of design, now refers to not only a tangible substance. In Digital Interaction Design, Google has proposed Material Design and Material Library which integrates digital visual design of non-substance with the properties of physics such as weight, shadow and spatial relationship, which combine to reflect how visual elements interact and serve as the basic reference for Google's interactive visual design. The “material” in referred to by Google is not exactly the same with the one I mentioned at the beginning of this conversation. I am intended to illustrate that the so-call “materials” are not necessarily tangible substances with an example from another branch of design.
Q: 这样理解食材的话，扩大了传统食材的概念，那么它在食物设计里的作用也会有不一样的可能了。
A: 是的，材料其实很多时候是我们做设计的一个客观、中性的基础，它一般有很强的可塑性，设计就是对它进行探索、stretch，用它再创作，用设计重新诠释它的美，用它来承载设计中想要传递的信息。另外在设计的趋势上，已经越来越多从实用、廉价、解决基本问题慢慢转移到有效地沟通、聪明地解决问题、好的产品体验、好的服务，个人生活方式和品味的体现，到故事情怀的体验、个人宣言。设计已经不仅仅是回答问题和造型设计了，它也成为了一个传播的载体，所以我们对材料的认知也应该拓展到故事和文化。这个可以被诗意地解读，也可以很功利地去把它跟市场调研、广告设计联系起来。
Q: Your understanding of material added to the connotations of food. Would we thus have more possibilities in food design?
A: Indeed, material, with strong plasticity, is actually an objective and neutral basis for our design. And design is to demonstrate its beauty and deliver the massages hidden inthe food through exploration, stretch and recreation. In addition, our previous designs that were practical, cheap and able to solvebasic problems are now evolving to those able to communicate effectively, solve problemssmartly, provide user-friendly experience and service, embody personal lifestyle and taste, and speak for individuals. Design is more ofa carrier for communication than merely an offering an answer or elaborately shaping aform, so our recognition of material should also be extended to the stories and culture behindit. The interpretation can be poetic, or containsmore commercial with to beassociated with market researches and advertising designs.
Q: 你的哪些作品是在这方面做了探讨的？
A: 我前面提到的“肉肉狂想”，其实很大的成分是对当前context和科技的调研、提问和重组，最后落实到一部分的context设计、一部分的食物设计，而且我设计的目的本身也是讨论未来设计、未来食物和现在食物系统出了什么问题。
另外我还跟湾区当地一个做可食用昆虫的品牌Don Bugito合作过，它的主理人是墨西哥人，用快闪晚餐品尝“过去的未来”。因为吃虫子在墨西哥是一个正常的饮食文化，而且很多科学家也指出，用昆虫替代我们饮食中的蛋白质是未来很可持续的一种饮食结构——但是不吃虫子的人一般才懒得因为这个开始吃虫子吧？所以最有效的“教育”传播方式，就是用好的味道和用餐体验，让人尝到这个未来的可能性。所以我们设计了这个晚餐，包括视觉和一些器皿的设计，当然食物是大厨做的——这个设计的根本并不是虫子，而是如何让人接受甚至享受食用另一种蛋白质——虫子的探索。我觉得这类把文化和故事作为材料的设计，本身就是一种趋势，如何找到一个更有意义的设计“材料”、如何设计得有价值就是这类设计新的挑战。
Q: Any specific example of your work in this regard?
A: The Protein Fantasy, as I mentioned earlier. In fact, a large part of it comprises investigation, questioning and reorganization of the current context and technologies;
it ends up partly in context design and food design. My design, in itself, is aimed to discuss the problems incurrent food systems, and their relations with future design and future food. I once worked with Don Bugito, a local edible insect brand in the Bay Area. Its owner is a Mexican who presents Past Futures flashmob dinner. Insects are extraordinary food on Mexican tables. Many scientists have also pointed out that it is sustainable diet in the future to replace the protein in our diet with insects. However, maybe it’s hard for noninsect eaters to change their diet just for this reason. The most effective way to "educate" them is to serve them with pleasant savor and dining experience, so that they can make the first move towards the future diet possibilities. Here we are with this dinner, with careful design in visual part, some utensils and of course the food that is made by the chef. Essentially this design is not about insects, but how to make people accept and even enjoy eating another protein. It is the exploration by means of insects. The design is in itself a tendency, in my view, to use culture and stories as materials. And the key to it is to find the meaningful “material” and bring out the value of each material.
Q: 在你作品中，提出问题的能力很强，这与传统的设计直指解决问题不同，你怎么理解自己这种非直指“解决问题”而强调“提出问题”的设计方法和理念。
A: 人们消费的对象和需求已经变了，而且变得越来越快了，很难说做一个解决问题的设计师能有足够的竞争力，更不用说年轻设计师还没经验，所以我对开始探索不同的设计类别，不同的设计意义。当我以前做传统工业产品的调研和设计，经常会觉得，这世界上还有什么没被设计过呀？还有什么东西值得设计啊？因为我总是在现存的产品类别中找有什么可以设计的，而一个类别的产品或者设计的诞生，往往解决的核心问题都是一个，我在做的只是重复地解决各个大师和品牌都回答过的问题。
作为一个独立设计师，能获得的成长和竞争力都是有限的，而大部分的大师和经典设计，都是基于发现了一个未被人解决过的问题、或者未得到足够重视的问题。所以我也开始通过不同的手段去练习提问，也在学术环境中提升自己的批判和逻辑思维；同时也在学习和调研过程中，发现了很多现实存在的问题，并且这些问题不是能快速通过商业设计解决的，甚至是由商业设计和资本化导致的。有句话怎么说的？当你看到了，你就没办法假装看不到。我就开始尝试更多不同的设计方法，试着用设计去发现问题和讨论问题。其实只是想在这个越来越多物品被制造、越来越多问题和信息被透明化、越来越多流动的问题和需求的时代，让自己的设计也越来越灵活、流动、持续、有意义，同时也想着让人觉得快乐或者有趣。我对食物的认识也从“好吃”“有趣”“温暖”，到现在理解我们跟它紧密的联系，人类对食物做的人为改造产生的问题。食物与环境、健康、道德、政治都是有联系的，我要如何用设计重新解读它？我可以通过设计做我觉得有意义的干涉吗？目前为止的设计师，都是受过“解决问题”和“人本设计”洗礼的，在自己的设计方法非常成熟前，我们都不可避免地会去考虑“用户体验”或者至少是“观众、读者”的体验，所以在大多数情况下，我觉得我这些提问式的设计，会更容易让人理解、但相对不那么激进。
Q: Different from traditional designs aiming for solving problems, your worksis focused on raising questions. How do you interpret your design method and philosophy emphasizing on raising questions rather than solving problems?
A: People’s preferences and needs of consumption are changing at a faster pacemaking it harder for designers, especially young designers without much experience, to solve problems by design. Therefore, I started to explore different types of design and find more meaning of it. When I studied on traditional industrial products, I am often puzzled because it seems like everything in the world has been designed and nothing need to be done anymore. That feeling might come from the fact that I always try to look for object for design in the existing categories. The key to bring out a new product always come down to these simple questions, What we are doing is repeatedly solving the problems that have been solved renowned designers and brands. As an independent designer, the room for development and competitiveness of me are limited. However, the most classical design or great designers are successful because they have solved the unsolved or under attended problems.
Therefore, I tried to practice questioning through different means and improve critical thinking as well as systematic thinking in academic environment. During mystudy and investigation, I found real problems that can not be rapidly solved by commercial design and some are even caused by commercial design and capitalism themselves. Just as a popular saying goes, when you see it, you can't pretend to “unseen” it. I started to try more different design methods, find problemsand approach them by design. I want to design something that is flexible, sustainable and meaningful in an era when increasing numbers of items are manufactured, problemsand information gets more transparent, and interrelated problems and needs emergedone after another. Hopefully, at the same time my efforts could bring fun and happiness to people’s life. Apart from the tasty, interesting and warm characteristics of food, I now have a deeper understanding on its interaction with human and the problems derived from manmade transformation. Food is related to the environment, health, ethics, and politics. How can I reinterpret it with design? Can I interferein a meaningful way through design? what I found special is that all designers we have so far have been baptized to pay heeds to “problem-solving" and "human-centered design". It’s inevitable for us to considerusers’ experience, or at least the experience of audiences and readers before our design methodology maturates. In most cases, therefore, my question-raising design can be more easily understood and less progressive.
Q: 做了这么多有趣的关于未来食材的研究，你觉得人类会不会有一天忘记我们最初食物的样子和故事？为什么？
A: 一部分食物一定会被忘记的。因为我们种植、料理食物的技术会变化，人们的生活方式在变，我们对物品、对食物的需求也会变，为什么我们对食物的记忆和认知不会改变呢？比如巧克力，人们最初食用可可是加了辛香料的饮料，但现在极少有人知道这个；而口感更顺滑甜蜜、体积小巧便于携带的巧克力，为所有人熟知。改变和遗忘，并不一定意味着消失，我想同时也会有人会用不同的方式记录下最初食物的样子和故事；之后在恰当的契机下，会被我们找到并重现，或者被赋予新的定义，再次进入我们的生活——我相信未来的很多答案就存在于我们的过去。
Q: After doing so many interesting researches on future ingredients, do you think one day people will forget the original looks and stories of food? And why?
A: Some food is bound to be forgotten. Theway of growing and cooking food has been changing and the same goes to people’s lifestyle as well as our demand for material and food. Why won’t our memories and recognition of food change? Take chocolate as an example, it was mistaken for a spiced drink at the very beginning, a fact unknown to many people nowadays; now it is the widely known sweet and portable snack beloved by all. But being changed and forgotten doesn't necessarily result in disappearance. Some people (such as designers? Aha!) may record the original look and stories of food in different ways. These records, at a proper time, may be discovered and represented or reenter our life with new definitions. I believe answers to the future lie in our past.