“Food is a mirror of society and a statement of the zeitgeist”
Meet our German correspondent: Inés Lauber. Inés is a food and experience designer based in Berlin. On a regular base she will be writing for The DIFD about the German scene of Food & Design.
Tell us about yourself and your work
I am a food and experience designer based in Berlin. I have a background in product design and design thinking and use food as both creative material and a source of inspiration.
In 2012, I founded Studio Inés Lauber, a creative food studio, which focusses on an interdisciplinary approach, creative thinking and sustainability. During the past years, I have designed and conceptualized numerous installations, thematic pop-up restaurants, exhibitions and guerilla performances around the topic of food and food production.
Since 2016, I am the leading director of VITAL FORCES – Food in context, a think tank on food as a cultural good. Vital Forces is a module of the platform Satellite Berlin – Art in Collaboration and aims to illuminate the connections and relationship of the fields of art, literature, agriculture, science, health, education, eating trends and ethics, philosophy and politics.
For the DIFD I will focus on writing about food trends, funny food facts, future food thoughts, sustainability topics and Food Art and Design.
Salento Sauvage, Inés Lauber
Popcorncert, Inés Lauber
What is your take on Food & Design and why does it interest you?
Food and Design are closely related fields as our food culture has been designed ever since it became a cultural good, which basically means since we started cooking. There is a misconception about Food and Design that it equals making food pretty.
With a background in product design, I specialized in learning about materials and shapes, aesthetics and functional solutions. Food can be a thrilling topic, being tied to so many aspects of life. I find it interesting, that it is often treated as a trivial part of everyday life; put in fact food (culture) is a mirror of society and a statement of the zeitgeist, just like fashion and art is.
How do you see the future of Food & Design?
In my opinion, design will play an even more important role in the future in all aspects of life. Man shapes its environment and defines culture by doing so. Food always has been and always will be an absolutely essential topic. In the past years, however, food has gained particular interest also in terms of fashion and status symbol, defining peer groups and becoming a substitute for religious belief.
Furthermore, I think designers working with food need to address political and social issues. As food is so closely connected to both fields, I believe it is part of our responsibility as creatives to find appropriate, interesting, good and maybe even entertaining solutions to address problems. Just like it is any designer’s responsibility to design furniture, clothes and other goods in an ethical and sustainable fashion.
Read more about Inés’ work on her:
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