Metropolitan Taste
)
For its London Design Festival debut, One Bite Design Studio is reimagining its ongoing Flavour Library project, which it launched in Hong Kong 10 years ago – celebrating this landmark anniversary with an exhibition at Borough Yards.
"The original idea came from our belief that design has different flavours – by which we mean it's like what we taste: full of memories, delights and thoughts," explains Sarah Mui, Co-founder & Design Director of One Bite Design Studio. ‘We see the impact of our work as flavours imbuing a place or community – for instance, a location that promotes a sustainable lifestyle through its infrastructure and initiatives could be described as tasting “earthy”, Conversely, a place that is rich in healing spaces evokes a “creamy” flavour.’
By attaching these descriptors to all its projects, the studio created a tasty map of their own city, which revealed the feelings and sensations people experience every day without vocalising them. "That's what we're bringing to London, giving LDF25 visitors a different way to see the city and find new ways to relish it,’" Mui says.
But the latest iteration of the project takes a different approach: while the initial idea was to compare the city to chocolates – inspired by the team’s love of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – it evolved as it developed in the city of Covent Garden Flower Market and numerous parks. "We found ourselves more inspired by a distinctive charm of London – the flowers."
"Flavours – like music – are a universal language."
)
)
)
Beyond the whimsical, there’s serious intent behind the initiative: the jargon used by urban realm professionals often alienates the very people who use cities, and this is a way of breaking down barriers in our understanding of our surroundings. ‘Flavours – like music – are a universal language,’ Mui says. Visitors will receive a ‘care note’ designed to encourage further exploration of the city, thereby enhancing their experience. There will also be events that allow you to delve deeper – including a tour of the exhibition led by Mui and a talk by the founding architects behind One Bite exploring how taste, often ignored in the urban realm, adds a new dimension to community engagement.
For One Bite, this isn’t the end: they intend to tour the exhibition globally, gather tastes and unique perspectives from across the world on how city-dwellers live and feel today.
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=logo}
){kind=logo}
)
){kind=logo}
){kind=logo}
)
){kind=logo}
)
)
){kind=logo}
)