School of Food Futures

The KYOTO Design Lab [D-lab] presents the School of Food Futures, a 5-day summer school for practical learning about sustainable future design, including digital food, algorithmic design, and circular design.

The 2022 program will comprise two stages: a series of offline workshops and online lectures with guest speakers active in Japan and abroad. The small-group offline workshops will focus on three main topics: “How to make 3D printed chocolate,” “Algorithmic design for creating new food sensations using Rhinoceros+Grasshopper,” and “Design in the Circular Economy

We are going to learn about the latest trends in food design, product design, and circular design, and to connect with a community like-minded friends.
(Organized by Kyoto Institute of Technology KYOTO Design Lab / Cooperated by MTRL and FabCafe Kyoto)

Have you ever heard of food design?

In 2009, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan announced the Courses of Study for Senior High Schools, which defined food design as a subject that “provides students with knowledge and skills related to nutrition, food, menu planning, cooking, table coordination, etc., and fosters the ability and attitude to comprehensively design dietary life and to contribute to the promotion of dietary education. In other words, it is an evolved form of home economics.”

What exactly does “food design” design?

According to the commentary on the Home Economics section of the Guidelines for the Course of Study for Senior High Schools published in 2008, “food design” is defined as follows:

1) To learn systematically about nutrition, food, menu, cooking, table coordination, etc., and to acquire related skills.
2) To discover issues related to dietary life in general based on the current state of the general population’s dietary habits, and to develop the ability to solve them rationally and creatively and in an professional manner.
3) Cultivate an attitude to work proactively and collaboratively to promote comprehensive dietary design and nutrition education through self-directed study aimed at improving dietary life.

These three points are set as the objectives of the course. In other words, food design is the search for creative solutions through the application of design to reexamine the relationship between people and dietary habits in general.

On the other hand, various issues have emerged in our food environment in recent years, such as climate change, global population growth, and food export restrictions derived from conflict issues. In addition, a series of technological development trends called “food tech” and sustainable food development trends symbolized by entomophagy are also attracting attention. In other words, there is an increasing need to design a food culture that has never existed before, in addition to acquiring conventional dietary knowledge and skills.

From the preface to “FOOD DESIGN: Design Research for the Future of Food.”

In order to confront these transformations and explore the food of the future, the Kyoto Institute of Technology’s KYOTO Design Lab is launching the School of Food Futures together with MTRL / FabCafe Kyoto. This summer school will experiment with and explore digital food, algorithmic design, and circular design, with a focus on food design. It will be a place for those who are interested and motivated in the above experimental activities not only in the field of food, but also in product design, architecture, and other fields, to learn about sustainable future design in a practical way.

In the 2022 program, offline workshops will focus on three main topics: how to use food 3D printers, algorithmic design methods, and food design in the circular economy. In addition, in order to gain the perspectives necessary to think about food design in the future, online lectures will be held by intellectuals engaged in practical activities.

The most reliable way to predict the future is to imagine and create our own ideal future. See you at the KYOTO Design Lab this summer!

(A) Offline Workshops
We will hold offline workshops in small groups focusing on three topics: “How to make 3D printed chocolate,” “Algorithmic design for creating a new texture using Rhinoceros+Grasshopper,” and “Design in the Circular Economy. The workshops will be held in Kyoto, Japan.

Date: Monday, August 29 ~ Friday, September 2, 2022, 10:00~17:00
Place: Kyoto Institute of Technology KYOTO Design Lab (1 Matsugasaki Hashigami-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan)
Only the final day, Friday, September 2, will be held at FabCafe Kyoto (554 Hon Shiogama-cho, Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture).

(B) Online Lecture
Guest lecturers active in Japan and abroad will be invited to give talks and presentations, as well as to provide opportunities for Q&A and exchange.

Date: August 28 (Sun.) ~ September 2 (Fri.), 2022, 19:00~21:00
Place: Online (zoom)
Both A and B require participation for the entire duration of the seminar.
Archived videos of B will be available for a limited time for participants only.

A) Offline Workshops Content

After the completion of the above, a period of approximately one month for individual production will be set aside, and an online exhibition of the results and a review event will be held in early October.

(B) Online Lectures Content

For inquiries regarding this event, please send an e-mail to the following address (Attn: MTRL, Kinoshita and Ishii)
info.mtrl@loftwork.com