Opinion: a pizza crust stuffed with a hot dog could be the ultimate expression of contemporary design culture, suggests Sam Jacob in this week's opinion column.

If this is all that's left for design to do on this earth then maybe we are finally fulfilling that quaint Victorian statement that everything that can be invented has been invented.

That's the second thought I had after seeing the latest product out of the gate from Domino's secret diabolical research facility: the Hot Dog Stuffed Crust Pizza. The first thought was where I was going to vomit.

Think of it for a second. Turn the idea over in your mind slowly: a pizza whose crust contains a hot dog. Yes, a sausage that loops around a pizza's circumference like a mechanically-recovered meat Large Hadron Collider.

Crusts, of course, have troubled pizza makers for years. To the volume pizza industry crusts are dead air, the unfortunate bready by-product of the pizza-making process. Barren, boring margins to the infinite possibilities of a pizza's surface daubed with cheese, tomato, pepperoni, chicken tikka and so on.

Previous attempts to transform these tasteless terrains have included stuffing them with cheese (acceptable in my book, at least in principle, because it's just a rejigging of certifiable pizza ingredients) and so-called "crust-less" pizzas (weird, like a spineless book or a hairless cat). Other tactics have included transforming the pizza base into a sandwich of discs glued together with a garlic flavour emulsion (frankly revolting and a thankfully short-lived experiment).

But this ring of meat takes the biscuit. The Hot Dog Stuffed Crust is a fast food crossing of the streams, a hybridised foodstuff too far. But don't blame Domino's. It was apparently Pizza Hut who first introduced it. Domino's version just ups the ante with mustard already lining the orbital sausage cavity. Pizza Hut has fought back with more innovation: the Hot Dog Pizza Bites Pizza: "pull-apart crust with 28 succulent mini hot dog bites, packed with delicious flavour" (in case you needed further explanation).

We might be appalled by the fact that this ever got off the drawing board and onto the back of a delivery moped driving around the very same streets that you and I walk. But I think I'm not alone in also secretly applauding the sheer ingenuity of this foul invention.

Let's suspend judgement for a moment. For, as revolting as it may be, the Hot Dog Stuffed Pizza Crust represents a form of design thinking. That is to say, it isn't a one-off incident but a product of the zeitgeist. It's something that could simply not have happened say, 30 years ago. The HDSCP emerges out of a culture that we are all part of, that we all participate in, that we all contribute to. Frightening as it may be, all of us are responsible for the existence of the Hot Dog Stuffed Crust Pizza.

Here are some of the things that I would argue enable humanity to conceive of the HDSCP; its cultural ingredients, in other words. Third Way politics that suggested you could be both left and right at the same time without being either. Hacking culture. Surrealism. Postmodernism (which might problematise the very idea of "pizza" and "hot dog" in the first place).

Robert Venturi (a better example of "both/and" you’d be hard pushed to find). Advertising. Pornography. Swiss Army knives. Photoshop. The convergence of uses that electronics has delivered since the digital watch first gave us a clock that was also a calculator (i.e. there's not much ground to travel between the idea of a phone + camera to a pizza + hot dog).

All these phenomena (and many more) change the way in which we think. They alter our expectation of things, what we want them to do and to be. Design is something animated by forces outside of itself, shaped by the broad culture within which it practises. Objects, much as we'd like them to, can no longer be simple, natural or authentic because of the sheer complexity of contemporary production and consumption.

Much like food itself, the sensations of simplicity, naturalness and authenticity can only be created with spectacular and concentrated effort. The cult of the natural – so understandable a yearning in the face of things like the HDSCP – is as synthetic as everything else.

The Hot Dog Stuffed Crust Pizza might be a revolting thought, but it is also an object that crystallises a trope of contemporary design culture. Its appallingness has a purity to it, a clarity that reveals tendencies that often lurk below the surface of design, hidden by good taste and convincing rhetoric.

If I were helping build the Design Museum's new collection and wanted the object ne plus ultra of 2013, it would be this. An object so completely of its moment that if it was all that was left of civilisation, future archeologists could decode the entire socioeconomic structure of our society.

Sam Jacob is a director of architecture practice FAT, professor of architecture at University of Illinois Chicago and director of Night School at the Architectural Association School of Architecture, as well as editing www.strangeharvest.com.

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is a product of the zeitgeist" appeared first on Dezeen.

In this article from Print Shift, our one-off magazine about additive manufacturing, Dezeen's Ben Hobson asks how soon we could be tucking into 3D-printed steaks.

The concept of 3D-printed food is hard to swallow, but technology that could revolutionise the way we cook is hotting up.

In 2009, Philips Design presented a sci-fi vision of the future with a conceptual food printer that could produce a perfectly balanced meal at the touch of a few buttons. Part of a research project called Food Probe, which looked at how we might source and eat food in 15 to 20 years’ time, the imagined machine would allow our future selves to print out our ideal combinations of flavours and nutrients in an unlimited range of forms.

It sounded too Star Trek to be true (as Dezeen readers were quick to point out when we originally ran the story). But with 3D-printing technologies advancing as rapidly as they are, the idea may not be as far off as it once seemed.

Philips itself is not developing a 3D food printer, but companies around the world are starting to take the concept seriously. Janne Kyttanen has been at the forefront of 3D-printing technology for many years and he believes food is next on the list to be revolutionised by 3D printing. "We have many different avenues in which 3D printing technology is moving. We’ve explored all different kinds of products and different materials," he says. "Food is the next frontier."

Kyttanen has already 3D-printed an experimental hamburger and a breakfast cereal in novelty shapes, including his own head, but these are merely conceptual models of plastic and plaster. "I wanted to pinch people a little bit. I printed burgers just to create an iconic image and make people realise that one day we will be able to 3D-print a hamburger."

But while the 3D-printed burger of the future is some way off, the transition from printing with plastics to printing with food has already begun. In 2011 Luis Fraguada, research director at architecture studio Built By Associative Data, was using a desktop 3D printer to produce prototypes of customised crockery when he was approached by a young chef called Paco Morales, who asked him a question: if you can print out a plate, could you also print out a piece of food onto that plate?

Fraguada and Morales, together with architects Deniz Manisali, José Ramón Tramoyeres and Andrés Arias Madrid – who collectively make up the research group Robots In Gastronomy – have been working on a 3D food printer ever since.

Their machine uses an adapted version of the same fused deposition modelling technology that’s commonly used to print plastics: food is extruded through a nozzle and built up in layers to the specified design. "We started with a MakerBot," Fraguada explains. "We put in our own print head to let us print out viscose food materials."

The nature of the technology means the printer is limited to creating customised 3D shapes out of soft or puréed foodstuffs such as mascarpone, guacamole or chocolate spread; Fraguada soon discovered that "Nutella is the perfect material for printing". But he believes the potential for the technology extends far beyond simple novelty value.

"For me, it’s interesting to think about the possibilities for somebody with specific dietary requirements – someone who needs to precisely measure out certain types of food, for example. Nutrition is the root of many of our medical problems, globally. My hope is that at some point we will have more control over the elements that we put into our bodies."

It’s not just designers who are exploring the possibilities of 3D-printed food. Scientists at Cornell University’s Creative Machines Lab in Ithaca, New York, have developed an open-source desktop 3D printer called Fab@Home, which, using a similar extrusion-based technology, can print with plastic as well as cake mixture, icing and peanut butter.

They have also experimented with meat, but that proved to be much trickier. "We know from the flavouring industry that we can make anything taste like anything, and we know from the colouring industry that we can make anything look like anything," Cornell scientist Jeffrey Lipton says. "But if food doesn’t have the right feel to it, if it feels too processed, people have a gut reaction against it."

Nobody wants to eat a gloopy steak, basically. But Lipton has enjoyed some success with using meat as a print material. In 2010 he was able to print various types of puréed meat into shapes that were then deep-fried, including a scallop printed into the shape of a space shuttle, which was, Lipton assures, "absolutely delicious". The key was to combine the puréed meat with an enzyme called transglutaminase, which helps the proteins reconnect and the meat to regain its texture. Lipton believes that with the necessary scientific research, we will one day be able to take the next step and print foodstuffs like meat "from the ground up".

In fact, the research is already well underway. American company Modern Meadow 
was set up in 2012 with the specific goal to develop in vitro meat and leather products for which no animal has to die. The idea is to use the same bioprinting technology that is being developed in the medical industry to grow transplantable human tissue, but to produce meat for human consumption instead.

Modern Meadow is still a development-stage company, and it has put no time frame on when the meat it hopes to produce will be available to buy. But it has the money behind it to succeed; PayPal co-founder and billionaire Peter Thiel is an investor.

There are others willing to put money behind 3D-printed food. Kjeld van Bommel is a research scientist at Dutch contract research organisation TNO, which works with some of the world’s biggest food companies, and he says they are interested. "We’re actually doing projects with some international companies, big food companies, that see a future for 3D-printed food," he says.

Unfortunately these projects are all top secret. But there is one project van Bommel is free to discuss. TNO is helping to develop a food printer as part of an EU-backed project aiming to improve the lives of people suffering from a condition called dysphagia, which causes chewing and swallowing problems. By removing the usual pleasures of eating, the condition often leads to malnutrition.

The machine TNO is developing will combine puréed foodstuffs with a special gelatine binding agent, and print them out in 3D shapes that are soft enough to be eaten. "We’re going to print a piece of chicken and we’re going to print a potato," van Bommel explains. "People will get a plate of food in front of them that they can eat with a knife and fork, rather than having a milkshake three times a day. It’s already been shown that people eat better when they do that."

The printer will work much like a 2D inkjet, printing out food in droplets and building up a 3D structure layer by layer. Crucially, just like the food printer conceived by Philips Design, its output will be completely customisable. "The food will be personalised," van Bommel enthuses. "The number of calories will be personalised. Nutrients like calcium or omega-3 fatty acids will be personalised as well. Even the softness or hardness of the food will be tuned to the needs of the client. Everyone will get their own personalised plate of food in front of them."

This printer is not a far-off fantasy. The project started in 2012, and if it stays on schedule, they’ll have a working prototype within three years. Van Bommel believes it will only take another couple of years after that before a commercial product is available.

Of course, while the softness of the food it will produce has obvious benefits for those suffering from swallowing disorders, most people would not want to eat it.

Nevertheless, as the technology continues to advance, and with companies with the 
necessary financial muscle starting to get behind 3D-printed food, a food printer of the kind Philips Design imagined seems a significant step closer to becoming reality.

The post "One day we will be able to
3D-print a hamburger" appeared first on Dezeen.

Designed in response to the current economic climate, the decorative or unnecessary elements of the furniture can be eaten until all that's left is what's needed for basic functionality. Lanzavecchia + Wai used a range of food types to build up each item around its pared-down black iron version.

The Hard Candy coffee table has a top made from a huge hard-boiled sweet that leaves one saucer at the end of each leg after it has been nibbled away.

Twenty-four kilograms of white chocolate was formed around a stool to create the Chocolate chair.

Rice bricks glued together with starch form a backrest for a bench, draped with a cotton quilt full of dried beans.

A table top baked into a cracker balances on stacked tins of corned beef, which can be removed as the table is munched to leave a simple tray.

The pieces were shown as part of a series of food-based projects at the Padiglione Italia's Foodmade exhibition, located in the Ventura Lambrate district of Milan.

Another cuisine-related exhibition in Milan featured patterned rolling pins that made edible plates and a meat grinder that squeezed out biodegradable bowls.

We've previously featured tableware and a desk lamp that can be eaten.

See more stories about design and food »
See all our coverage of Milan 2013 »

Lanzavecchia + Wai sent us the information below:

The domestic landscape reflects our culture, our taste and our habits. The objects that populate it absorb the atmosphere that pervades the space through their physicality, functionality and identity.

Ostensibly living intact through good times and also adverse ones, the domestic objects become invisible to us over time with their familiarity.

How can furniture react to times of crisis? The decorational elements that were once appreciated, suddenly become superfluous and should evolve to reflect a new era of austerity; the objects become edible and offer themselves to be consumed when needed.

In four conceptual objects, Lanzavecchia + Wai repropose basic nutrients, carbohydrates, proteins, sugar and chocolate as food reserves which at the same time complement and finish the objects by covering elemental metal structures.

Piece by piece the object is eroded, exposing a soul, the core-function, which will remain over time. This will encourage us to re-think what basic necessities are: a true reflection on the essence of the things that will lead us into the future.

The Austerity collection consists of Hard Candy coffee table, Chocolate chair, Grains sofa and Hardtack table.

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by Lanzavecchia + Wai appeared first on Dezeen.

Towers of cheese, squares of beetroot, florets of broccoli and other edible items are laid out in a precise grid to create Still Life, which was designed by PJADAD as branding for Atelier Food, a Stockholm-based restaurant that runs workshops involving chefs, artists, designers, scientists and business developers.

PJADAD, which stands for Petter Johansson Art Direction and Design, comprises art director Johansson, graphic designer Oskar Svensson and copywriter Anton Wigbrand.

We recently reported on prototypes of 3D-printed hamburgers and a set of rolling pins that make patterned plates from dough - see all food design.

Photography is by Henrik Petersson.

Here's some more information from Petter Johansson:

Innovation through food

Atelier Food is a project that seeks new solutions and innovation through food. The project is initiated by international top chefs such as Stefan Eriksson and leading people from branches such as communication, science, culture and business.

Food is an important part of many future challenges. Atelier Food links food with sustainability, energy, culture, urban development and transportation. The project also link chefs with artists, designers, scientists and business developers. Together they seek global solutions and innovation through cooking, food labs and discussions. Atelier Food is represented by its on-going workshops and as a restaurant based in the heart of Stockholm, Sweden.

Creativity through food

The Atelier Food still life is built on a grid. The still life represents the work of Atelier Food and the connection between food and society. It links the playfulness and creativity within the project with the ambitious goals and long-term challenges. In the spirit of the whole Atelier Food project it is also a creative co-operation between a chef, one art director and one photographer. Petter Johansson Art Direction And Design (PJADAD) is a small experimental studio working in the fields of communication, strategy and design. The studio employs one art director, one copywriter and one graphic designer. We like to see our customers as partners and strive to build, develop or maintain their brands.

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and Atelier Food appeared first on Dezeen.

Altered Appliances is a collection of four projects by students from Rotterdam's Piet Zwart Institute, all of which introduce low-tech, hand-powered appliances and ideas to the kitchen.

Rollware is a set of laser-cut rolling pins designed by Joanne Choueiri, Giulia Cosenza and Povilas Raskevicius to produce edible plates and dishes from dough.

One set of four rolling pins is used to imprint patterns on the dough.

Above: Rollware movie

Another set cuts the dough into four different plate sizes before they are baked into tableware.

Extrudough is a collection of biodegradable tableware made with a meat grinder, which designers Bo Baalman and Kine Solberg describe as an "analogue, human-powered 3D printer".

A soft dough is extruded through the meat grinder in thin tubes onto various shaped moulds and then dried at room temperature.

As well as being cheap to produce, the products have a shorter decomposing time than other temporary tableware such as paper plates.

Above: Extrudough movie

The Flip Food lunch box by Ilias Markolefas and Nathalia Martinez Saavedra is inspired by the brown paper bags often used for carrying lunch to school or work.

The designers used stencils to cut a brown paper surface into a flat template, which is then folded and assembled to form a geometric lunchbox with six compartments.

The printed patterns visible on the outside vary depending on the lunchbox's rotation, so they can be used to indicate the type of food held inside.

Reusable plastic protective containers can also be inserted into the compartments to protect certain foods.

Above: Flipfood movie

Finally Maddalena Gioglio and Egle Tuleikyte created the CONEformation measuring set from mounds of salt poured out of a contraption holding various sizes of measuring funnels.

The salt mounds are hardened by spraying water onto them and then covered with a layer of runny clay. The salt is then removed to reveal a set of ceramic measuring vessels.

The four projects emerged from a studio led by Alex Suarez – whose installation in a salt factory we featured in 2010 – and Brian Peters at the Piet Zwart Institute in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

Other food designs we've featured include a collection of tableware made from baked dough and prototypes for 3D-printed hamburgers and pasta – see all projects involving food.

Above: CONEformation movie

Also at Ventura Lambrate this week are a seating booth inspired by an old train carriage and dining chairs with legs that flick out like ice skates, both designed by Tjep. – see all news about Ventura Lambrate.

Dezeen is in Milan covering the highlights of the design week – see our round-up from the Salone yesterday, browse all news from Milan or check out our interactive map of the week's best talks, exhibitions and parties.

Photographs are by the designers.

Here's some more information from Piet Zwart Institute:

Altered Appliances is an exhibition presenting projects that investigate the retooling of industrial low-tech appliances and gadgets to offer alternative design solutions and experiences for today’s kitchen. The exhibition is staged as a live demonstration presenting the process of making. The kitchen was the inspiration for the design projects. Historically, the kitchen as a domestic room grew from the need to house a variety of activities related to consumption. It is a story of the making of the modern home and its components, and on the shifting place and development of the most technological, equipment-laden and factory-like room of the home.

For the projects, the designers researched historical examples of appliances/apparatus, particularly low-tech, hand powered devices to become experts in a particular appliance, use and its effect. From this initial investigation, design parameters, fabrication techniques and material experimentations were developed to define the project, its application and explore new "altered" design opportunities for the kitchen.

The projects were made during a thematic design studio by design students in the Master of Interior Architecture & Retail Design (MIARD) program at the Piet Zwart Institute, Rotterdam, NL.

Rollware: Edible Dishware
Designers: Joanne Choueiri, Giulia Cosenza, Povilas Raskevicius

Rollware is a set of laser-cut rolling pins designed as a tool for the production of bread-based edible dishware, which are adorned with customised and useful patterns. The sustainable products merge traditional crafts, tableware production and cooking with digital technology.

Extrudough: Biodegradable Tableware
Designers: Bo Baalman, Kine Solberg

Extrudough is a collection of biodegradable tableware fabricated using an altered meat grinder that operates as an analogue, human powered 3D printer. The product line consists of five biodegradable containers, each with a unique pattern, colour and density.

Flip Food: Lunch Box
Designers: Ilias Markolefas, Nathalia Martinez Saavedra

Flip Food is a lunch box designed to store and carry food in a playful way. It is a self-standing rotating object with six compartments to store different types of food in each section. Inspired by the classic brown paper bag used by many to carry lunch to work or school.

CONEformation: A Measuring Set
Designers: Maddalena Gioglio, Egle Tuleikyte

CONEformation is a set of measuring cones for cooking, designed for mixing ingredients and serving food. The organic shapes of the cones are an unexpected yet a practical addition to the task of measuring for recipes in the kitchen.

Instructors: Alex Suarez, Brian Peters

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Piet Zwart Institute students appeared first on Dezeen.