Over the next few weeks we will be highlighting award-winning projects and ideas from this year's Core77 Design Awards 2013. We will be featuring these projects by category, so stay tuned for your favorite categories of design! For full details on the project, jury commenting and more information about the awards program, go to Core77DesignAwards.com.
The title of the project is: Competition and Relic, which is a fossil-like clay utensil. Users could put their dishes and fruit into the holes of utensil. This work is comprised of the clay and various fruits and vegetables.
- How did you learn that you had been recognized by the jury?
When I heard the news via email in Beijing, I had just got up in the morning. I felt super excited and then rushed out of my room to tell my families this wonderful news that I won an award. After hearing my words, my aunt told me seriously: "Calm down, my kid. I always receive email blackmailing me that I won some prize with 100,000 Yuan. Never trust them!!!"
- What's the latest news or development with your project?
After finishing COMPETITIONANDRELIC, I keep on playing with clay and design a new piece - Alice in Wonderland - which is a series of colorful clay tiles molded by the various vegetables. And all these tiles could be assembled together as a long tabletop.
- What is one quick anecdote about your project?
I got the design idea when Martino Gamper as the visiting artist held the workshop in my department, Cranbrook Academy of Art. But I was not a good student at the workshop, for I didn't go to Mr. Gamper's Lecture in the academy, however, I went to down town Detroit to see Jennifer Rubell's food lecture. Finally, I didn't make a chair but the prototype of COMPETITIONANDRELIC.
- What was an "a-ha" moment from this project?
When I made it in Naishu Hu's studio. I suddenly knew I was on the way, since she inspired and encouraged me a lot.
View the full project here.
The project includes a local dishes' design and unique cutlery that empowering the eating experience. It entitles to raise the way our minds changed throughout the years, from an agricultural society, gathering and hunting behavior to an industrial one. our society has created a huge gap between the appearance of the final dish and its constituent materials.
The project presented as a short video that shows the dishes, the tools and reflect the whole experience.
- How did you learn that you had been recognized by the jury?
I learned my recognition through the honoree email.
- What's the latest news or development with your project?
From the research of the sense of taste, I moved to the sense of smell which is a major component in our sense of taste. My last project combines designing and neuroscience. The project introduces a research on the sense of smell and its uses. Many case studies in this field were gathered into a one story of anosmic character, who's never experienced the sense of smell before. The project including odor learning device that operates as biofeedback (developed in collaboration with Weizmann Institute of science, Israel, and with the technology of "Scent-2-you.") and also unique jewelries to amplifies odor to influence on social situation. You can view it here.
I am also working now on creating a diner installation with local meals which is eaten by special cutlery and design unique experience for the diner.
- What is one quick anecdote about your project?
During the project I have collected queer artificial objects who present the change we did from an agricultural society, gathering and hunting behavior to an industrial one. Some of theme are in the movie project. The light box picture behind present the nature through industry filter and also the jewelry and the synthetics nail are Indicators to our wish to control nature.
- What was an "a-ha" moment from this project?
The "a-ha" moment for me was the first time I tasted the meals with my parents. It was great moment to see them deal with the different way of appearance and texture of the local meals which is so familiar for them and bring their childhood memories to the forefront of consciousness. They ate with dedicated cutlery and continued with their hands. It was great moment for me to see them relish the unique dining experience while keeping the flavors who so familiar to them. Although I know they are biased, as they are my parents.
View the full project here.
In the "Cupcakes Index," I baked the dataset of the Happiness Index into variations of sugar for tiny cupcakes (one cupcake per country) and then had my tasters map their perception of the sweetness on a chart. Thus the saddest country was the most bitter, the happiest, the sweetest. Cupcakes Index was my final project for Data Representation, taught by Jer Thorp.
- How did you learn that you had been recognized by the jury?
I received an email.
- What's the latest news or development with your project?
I'm currently working on an internal project at IDEO where my team is trying to understand people's happiness over time while at work. Who knows, maybe we'll bake a cupcakes index once we come up with a thoughtful way to gather the data!
I spent time consulting with similar projects that tried to understand data through taste and food. I advised a friend who made spice rubs that represented different ethnicities throughout NYC.
Mostly though, I've been continuing to develop my work of representing data in tangible, aesthetic ways. For my Master's thesis, I made a light that displays the realtime local air quality through changing light patterns projected on the ceiling - named AiryLight.
- What is one quick anecdote about your project?
While I was exhibiting Cupcakes Index at the ITP Spring Show, a 10 year old girl got very interested in the project and proceeded to become my main presenter of the project. She stood by and explained what was going on as people came through, tasted, plotted their wrappers and reflected. She grasped the whole idea so quickly and was so pleased to spend time with it - an extremely gratifying moment for me.
Another quick anecdote - it was funny - people often don't like really sweet cupcakes - so as expected, perhaps, the "happiest" countries and cupcakes were sometimes the least pleasurable to taste and digest...
- What was an "a-ha" moment from this project?
So the goal of measuring happiness is an ambitious one - given how subjective happiness is, given how it bends to current conditions and environment - well I realized that this matched up quite well with the experience of eating a cupcake - perhaps you have just eaten something else very sweet and this sweet cupcake does not taste as sweet to you - just as if you have just been in stop and go traffic for the past hour, you may not be very happy, though you may have been content for the past 4 hours before that. Perhaps your tastebuds are different from another person's - just as every person's definition of personal happiness can differ slightly from another's.
View the full project here.
Student Notable
The project, seed till fork examines relationships between restaurants and farms. It is an online marketplace that connects chefs and small farms with added educational tools to engage all parties active within the system. The goal of seed till fork is to get more local food to more local chefs, saving chefs time and saving farmers money and time spent managing logistics. The system enhances education about local and sustainable food supplies, creates a sense of investment in these supplies and in sources from all actors involved and stimulates the local food community in Savannah, Georgia.
- How did you learn that you had been recognized by the jury?
I received a very welcome and surprising email.
- What's the latest news or development with your project?
I am continuing to work in the local food scene of Savannah, Georgia. This project is constantly changing. I am excited about these developments, while they are not yet ready to share, I believe that soon, the solutions will have a great impact on the local food scene.
- What is one quick anecdote about your project?
I presented the results of this project at the restaurant Local 1110 in Savannah, Georgia. Various members of the local food scene attended, my presentation was followed by a farm-to-table tasting by Chef Tommy Morstad. The evening was an incredible celebration of local and sustainable food. With so much collective knowledge in the room new ideas and questions arose throughout the evening. This night sparked an interest to create more of its kind - evenings where communities gather, share good food, exchange ideas and celebrate good, clean food.
- What was an "a-ha" moment from this project?
I met with many different actors in the local food scene. Chefs, restaurateurs, farmers, activists. Immediately, it was glaringly clear that they were all frustrated with the same issue - distribution. I was amazed that it was so apparent, not the solution of course, but a common problem in need of a thoughtful design.
View the full project here.
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Comments
Once again, I like the piece...