Embassy of Food initiates Embassy Lab: Supermarket of the Future
Last month, the Embassy of Food launched a new Embassy Lab: Supermarket of the Future. On the basis of three themes, designers, students and partners join forces in an exploration into the supermarket of the future. The results will be visible in an interactive exhibition at Dutch Design Week (DDW) 2022. An exhibition in which experience, wonder and awareness are central. Curious about the participating designers and the themes? Then read on!
Why the Supermarket of the Future?
Meat without animals, milk without cows, functional food, groceries delivered within 10 minutes and digital dining. We are in the middle of an enormous food transition that is challenging our existing raw materials, production techniques and (culinary) habits. We are massively looking for more sustainable, more honest and healthier alternatives for a better world. But also more convenience, personalisation, experience and digitalisation. These changes will drastically alter the supermarket as we know it. Will ‘the supermarket’ as we know it still exist in 30 years? When the majority of groceries are delivered to our homes, what do we look for in a physical supermarket? What function(s) will a physical supermarket have in 2050? What will they look like and what will be for sale?
A supermarket visit in 2050
Three themes and three design studios. Each design studio focuses on a specific theme within the research. It is up to them to design a concept for an experienceable future scenario that can be shown at DDW 2022. Instead of an overview exhibition, the Embassy is developing an interactive exhibition in which the visitor experiences what a supermarket visit in 2050 might look like. The designers will work with the following three themes:
1. Data: think of personal health data, personalised diets, exploring sensory preferences.
2. Physical supermarket 2050: What can you buy there? What will you be doing there? What will the food transition look like
3. New supermarket rituals and social aspects: What will be the role of the supermarket? What will be the relationship between the vendor and consumer?
The Designers
Merle Bergers
Merle Bergers sees her role as a designer to shift the way we interact with other ‘invisible’ realms, in science and nature. She tries to get to know these worlds thoroughly with the help of scientists and other professionals. Then to explain her findings by means of (interactive) design.
Lisa Mandemaker
Lisa Mandemaker sees design as an instrument for debate and makes (future) stories tangible. She uses these designs as a form of storytelling to challenge, question or provoke assumptions. Her work focuses on the effects of emerging technology on people and their behaviour.
Nonhuman Nonsense
Nonhuman Nonsense, consisting of Filips Stanislavskis, Linnea Våglund and Leo Fidjeland, is a research-driven design studio that creates future-focused spins and experiments at the intersection of utopia and dystopia. The studio tells stories that open the public imagination to futures that currently seem impossible.
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The Embassy Labs are based on the developed and tested methods of What if Lab,, a programme of Dutch Design Foundation. They form the link between inspiring visions and concrete applicable solutions.