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I think that great food should be like great design. When you first see it,
it should be really appetizing
and then when you actually experience it and when you taste it
when you sit on it if it is a chair
it should be really satisfying.
I am Gianfranco Zaccai. I am an industrial designer and an architect.
I founded Continuum together with an engineer. I am now in Boston
at my favorite restaurant, 51 Lincoln.
I think it is a place where the analogy between great food
and great design becomes clear.
Sometimes food is ceremonial
and needs to make a statement. Sometimes it should be subtle,
and it should just be there and sometimes it should almost disappear.
I think the same with design. What happens with the things we design,
whether it is spaces or objects or services or attractions,
when you first see it,
perceive it with your eyes
and make some determinations about its quality.
And then when you actually touch it,
you in a sense taste it, you experience it
with another one of your senses. When you sit in it,
it is another one of your senses. It is not just the design of the object;
it is the design of the experience.
A lot of that is interpersonal.
I think that the notion of interaction is really an important point
because when you start thinking about interaction you start thinking about
cultural norms
and expectations but you also think about
elements of surprise. Right? Great conversation becomes pretty dull if you both agree on everything
right?
You want some element
that you haven't thought of before
which, come to think of it, is also about how great design I think is often created.
It is not created by someone sitting in a vacuum;
it is not someone
sitting in a white room
with a piece of paper and a pencil.
It is by the stimulus of being outside of that room,
of being in other peoples' lives and then the stimulus of other people
who were part of the design process
adding their perspective.
And that sparks something
that then results in something really important.
Great food and great design have another thing in common, which isn't just about
what their function is. So, it is not just about nutrition,
or if it is the case of a chair, it is not just about sitting. It is what they allow you to do
with other people. It is the social interaction that they enable or
they foster.
So a great meal is not just great food, but it is great companionship.
A great
piece of design is something that allows people to be together.