“Food as culture would help us better understand ourselves.”

Albert Fuster i Martí is an Architect who is doing his PhD in History of Art and Architecture at ETSAB-UPC, Barcelona. He is the Academic Director of ELISAVA, Barcelona School of Design and Engineering since 2014, and he has lectured in history of art, design and architecture and project methodology at various schools. He has collaborated with Ferran Adrià and the elBulli team since 2013 for the project of the new creative lab in elBulli restaurant in Cala Montjoi (Catalunya). He is also the Director of the Master in Creative Process, by Elisava and elBullifoundation. And for us he will be writing about the food & design developments in Barcelona!

Why does food design interest you? 

My interests are in the relation between food, design, culture, people and environment. Food and design share a direct and precise connection with people (both physical and psychologically). They both have the symmetric strength of concentrating a whole universe of elements within a single object, but also being able, through their precise outcomes, to raise a whole understanding of a territory. I am interested in the connection between absolute concretion and wide abstraction that this strength allows. 

What position in the food and design field is underexposed? 

Cultural issues. Food as culture would help us better understand ourselves and our link with our environment.