“Food is part of an experience”

Our correspondent Ishpreet Batra interviewed Alexa Trilla, a food designer from Lleida in Spain. She is the creator of Archicookture and defines herself as an “Archicooktect.” Alexa is creative, curious and extremely passionate about mixing gastronomy with other kinds of skills and knowledge.

How did you start your journey in the field of food and design?

I’m an art, design and food enthusiast. I grew up among plates, pans, floor plans and sketches. When I began studying architecture, all of the information related to space, volumes and colors fascinated me, but I did not have enough. The construction aspect of the course was too slow, and I began to study food design to create ephemeral food experiences.

I felt that I had notions of cooking from my family, but I wanted to understand a broader range of techniques and I expanded my studies in cooking and became a master in chocolate.  That helped me to be able to work from a lot of aspects related to my passions. I looked for studies and jobs abroad, and I spent my vacations traveling around the world, discovering cultures, ingredients and meeting new people. Being in love with different cultures and understanding my desire to unite all my passions and experiences, I started to define myself as “archicooktect.” The definition of archicooktect includes any common aspect between space, light and the senses.

What has been your favorite food and design project so far?  

It is difficult to choose a single project. Each one has many stories behind it, as well as people and memories. But if I had to choose one, it would be the “Catalan Cream” project I did while I was living in Milano. It was one of my first projects and I was asked to explain a typical dessert from my country, without using words or drawings. I wanted to explain the process, the ingredients and all the feelings that the Catalan Cream dessert represents for us. At the same time I wanted people to approach it in a fun and easy way. I created an event to teach the recipe and from there a video, summarized in this  image:

All in all, the act of creating unique gastronomic experiences in which all the senses are involved is the hallmark of being an archicooktect. Colors and light are involved with the sense of sight, music in the sense of hearing, different textures play with the sense of touch, flora and the food products with the sense of smell, and last but not least, taste!