Our eating habits are as varied as we are as individuals. They reflect our cultures and traditions, personal histories and families, rituals, and daily routines. We feast in many ways in many contexts; in dining rooms used only on sacred occasions with special silverware, in the seats of our cars, bleary-eyed as we exit a drive-through unfolding our sandwich from paper with one hand, while the other hand steers the wheel, and through screens with our friends and families close and far as we navigate what it means to feast together, separately.
What is the role of feasting in our lives? How/when does the ritual of eating ground us to one another, our environment, materials, and place? What are the roles of the spaces, objects, and traditions that define our unique understanding, relationships, and experiences of eating? How can we design (engage or modify) the experience of eating/feasting to achieve an intention?
What are the roles of materials in this context, against the backdrop of sustainability and physical distancing, tradition, convenience, immediacy and ritual? How do specific material functions determine form, experience, and meaning in such contexts? What are the visible/invisible qualities within our designed concepts? Can we (re)engage those qualities through material modulations? If so, how (how far)? How (how much)?
Material Study
Paper mache dome made with different materials, egg carton, has the best performance in many ways, color, texture, weight, etc. The unique texture that the material contains is offering more possibilities to the project.
Concept
The dome provides a dining area within an enclosed environment, allowing the user to concentrate on the eating experience and avoid the busy environment that often disturbs the dining user.
Detail
Two sets of lights were installed respectively inside and outside of the dome. The lights provide a unique scene under different conditions. A pulley set has been used so that the user may able to raise the dome when needless. At the time, turn on the light set inside the dome may switch it to a dining ambiance piece.
