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ARCHITECTURAL ASSOCIATION VISITING SCHOOL
1000 INVISIBLE PLATES
Studio Leader: Robert Alex Smith (Bompas and Parr)
Team: Georgia Huang, Jack Fountain, Thao Nguyen, Taryn Loughan
1000 Invisible Plates explores project [vic]toria through the lens of culinary. It is an attempt to investigate the possibility of Victoria in the near future by drawing back on the history of First Nations, Colonisation and Modern Victoria. Instigating on the past and the present of Victoria was the conclusive method that the team believed would create the possibility
to frame the future of Victoria. Victoria has a unique culinary scene and is currently still undefiable by a single dish or culture. After Colonisation, people from all walks of life and culture flocked to Victoria for a better future, bringing with them their culture and culinary traditions and sharing it with the rest of Victoria. Melbourne is believed to be home to one of
the world’s most harmonious and culturally diverse communities, which can be seen in its culinary scene. We are able to find a spread of Asian cuisine easily along Swanston Street, a variety of Italian and Middle Eastern cuisine at Lygon Street and a mixture of Korean and Japanese cuisine on Russell Street, etc... With such diversity comes the challenge of
identification. What is the true essence that is a representation of Victoria’s culinary identity?
1000 Invisible Plates is an attempt to speculate on the future of Victoria’s culinary identity and exploration to seek the new Victoria’s food palette through the understanding of Victoria’s past and present narratives and occurrences since the 1800s till now. 1000 Invisible Plates is an immersive experience that tells the story of Victoria’s culinary journey through the collection of culinary information since 1800 to the present, 2022. The collection of past and present information was based on research from books and journal such as Dark Emu by Bruce Pascoe and Recipes from the city’s best restaurants, cafe and bars by The Broadsheet Melbourne Cookbook.
1000 Invisible Plates is an ongoing programme started by the secret society of the University of Melbourne that is not known to the public. The society is run by the Department of Future Archeology which started in 1800.
1000 Invisible Plates developed on the narrative to convey a story of Victoria’s culinary past and present and, subsequently, a story that could speculate on Victoria’s culinary future.
“Across Victoria's history, both distant and emerging, the zeitgeist of many moments will be distilled into a series of fictionalised vignettes. Each culinary story will instil a fragment of its broader context socially, politically, and environmentally. Within each story is a dish, and within each dish, there is something to learn, experienced and recorded. These dishes will be continually gathered and archived as part of a lengthy and consistent effort to extrapolate the past in an effort to speculate on the future. The tale of a thousand dishes will arrive at a conclusive plate, the final dish to define the future Victorian palate.”
1000 Invisible Plates is a multi-sensory dining experience. Takes place in the location prepared by the Department of Future Archeology in a luminal meeting place for characters from across the next century to meet and trace the origins of the food that represent their time of existence. Each dish presented at the dining table will contribute to the archival of the 1000 plates that will eventually provide an indisputable dish that defines the future Victorian palate.
MACRO DESIGN
Look and Feel
While the objective was to speculate on the future of Victoria’s culinary scene, the team took the approach of a story-telling narrative to create an immersive dining experience for the audience.
The Department of Future Archeology (DFA) created an eternal dining menu which was initiated in 1800. The menu document and archive food from individual time period and become data that is used to generate Victoria’s culinary scene and one day define Victoria’s food palette. The audiences are characters from the future, coming back from 2030 to 2065. Each of them travelling back in time with a story to tell and information for the DFA to archive. Each character represents a possibility of the future in Victoria based on Social, Political and Economical influences. For example, Michael Caruso, 39 years old, from the year 2030, migrated to Melbourne at a time where Victoria flourishes after the post-pandemic situation with great political agenda. He dish was “Deconstructed Eggplant Parmigiana” which was an important food from 2035 which will go down into the 1000 Invisible Plates’ menu as dish number 672/1000.
The food will be served and accompanied by a scent of fresh and growing environment of the future which is replicated through new car smell with burnt Mozzarella. The sound of construction noise will be played in the background through the story-telling of Michael to show the city is continually extended.
The audience will savour the food and time will be given for the character to interact and role-play. Prompts are provided as filler for conversation amongst the characters to create an engaging and ultimately, a fun experience for the audience.
CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT
“Food is one of the main drivers that is shaping the ecology of the planet”
- Pascual, D. and Schwabe, A., the Cooking Sections
Developing on the narrative of 1000 Invisible Plates, started of with thinking of the macro design which includes placemaking, exhibition settings, programme planning for a multi-sensory experience, atmospheric quality, sound, scent and tactile journey.
The team came into a conscientious agreement of a utopian future with idea of a fun and engaging journey for the guest. An immersive experience that bring back 8 characters from the future to the present through time-travelling portal. Each individual were chosen to represent the context of their living condition and a food that speak of their time.
Audience journey is broken down into four sequences, which comprises of Invitation, Pre-Exhibition, Exhibition and Post-Exhibition. Invitation sent to stimulate the audience into the character for the exhibition. Pre-Exhibition is the event summary to allow the audience to understand the narrative of the immersive dining experience. Exhibition is the narration of the immersive dining experience through story-telling of character and the food that they would like to introduce to everyone. Post-Exhibition is a conversation period for audience to interact with one another and viewing the gallery of the Victoria’s culinary past and present.
AXONOMETRIC ZONING
1. Reception
2. Preparation Area
3. Visual Audio Equipment
4. Archival Exhibition
5. Dining Area
6. Department Display
AUDIENCE JOURNEY
1. Reception
2. Dark Portal
3. Gallery
4. Dining
5. Stage
6. Information
EXHIBITION LAYOUT
1. Get Character
2. Time-travelling Walk
3. Exhibition Entrance
4. Dining Experience
5. Gallery Exploration
AUDIENCE JOURNEY
MICRO DESIGN
Tablescape and Serveware
Every element presented, from the environmental scape down to serveware was designed to align with the narrative. A sheet of reflective silver vinyl covers the table as a symbol of the future being a reflection of the events that had happened from today. The silver reflective sheet also provides a futurist looks at a speculative future.
The tablescape is a spread of real indigenous plants and spices stretching across the table, creating a large landscape on the table. The audience could touch, taste and smell the plants before dishes are served. The large tablescape also signifies and allows the character to know about current plants and herbs that could no longer exist in the future due to the drastic climate change and slow adaptability nature of the plants. The spices are laid out for the audience to taste and smell them before dishes are served to familiarize themselves with the herbs and could guess the spices that were used within each dish.
A menu is laid to the left of the cutlery and utensils with a description of each dish, the main ingredient and the way the food was prepared. A character card with character context, story and the food that they would like to share is placed on the right.
The audience will taste 8 dishes, along with smelling 8 additional scents accompanying the dishes, which is the replication of their future speculation. A series of soundscapes that is unique to each character will be played on top of the ongoing brown noise.
The sound of the gong will signify a time change, moving five years into the future and allowing the character to prepare to share their story.
PROPS AND STORYLINE
Invitation Card
Invitation card design was inspired by the futuristic approach that represent the Department of Future Archeology. The invitiation card play an important role in hinting the invited to come prepared for the immersive dining experience with the goal of exploring Victoria’s future culinary identity through story-telling.
Character Seating
The audiences are sat in an ascending order starting with Michale Caruso from 2030 sitting closest to the stage. The character will take turns to share their story and the meal that they would like to share at the Bi-centennial meal. The characters are related to each other such as sharing a common workspace, friends in real life and family, etc...
Character Card
Menu
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