FOOD DESIGN

CODE	114045
ACADEMIC YEAR	2025/2026
CREDITS	6 cfu anno 2 SCIENZE E CULTURE AGROALIMENTARI DEL MEDITERRANEO 11758 (L/GASTR R) - IMPERIA
SCIENTIFIC DISCIPLINARY SECTOR	ICAR/13
LANGUAGE	Italian
TEACHING LOCATION	IMPERIA
SEMESTER	1° Semester

OVERVIEW

Design is a discipline with a unique methodological specificity and some invariant characteristics that have distinguished its fortune and development since its birth, also for the ability to give value to 'things', objects, processes, methods, and create relationships beyond geographical and social contexts, while still anchoring to them.

The module presents the relationship between food and design, and deals with the theoretical and laboratory aspects of a relationship in which the latter is the engine of development for new models and strategies, services and products linked to the world of food culture. Design, which has always been an activator of transformation of society and enhancement of culture and identity, meets food and everything connected to it: not only aesthetics therefore, but product and function, concept and design of everything that is on, for and with food.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The teaching aims to develop a design approach capable of combining different factors: from the configuration of the food project, from the care of the formal aspect to its communication, to arrive at the knowledge of the processes of the food product-service system and the life cycles of food in all its aspects. The student will explore the themes of the circular economy linked to the design of food and the food product in a systemic key for the innovation of production processes in medium and small-sized companies in a competitive key in the market and territory of reference. The proposed educational path is applied and experiential to investigate the tools that allow the development of projects capable of assigning a value the material in production, distribution and consumption practices. Main training objectives are: 1- Acquisition of the key concepts of the circular economy applied to design for food. 2- Acquisition of theoretical and methodological notions of the food valorization project. 3- Ability to apply theoretical-methodological knowledge in a specific design process. 4- Development of problem solving skills with particular reference to innovation contexts and evolving creative processes. 5- Decision-making autonomy in designing a product or process

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The teaching structure sees an integrated and complementary development that starts from a general introduction on design and then articulates itself in themes and models specific to food design and its characteristic nature.

In particular, the design aspects will be emphasized in the context of innovation and the valorization of tradition, with particular attention to ethics and sustainability, both social and environmental. Through a synergic programming between theory and practice, an analysis and design methodology will be achieved based on a collaborative and multidisciplinary model, integrating theoretical skills and concept development in design applications, to tackle complex projects in the agri-food context.

The educational objective of the teaching focuses for the theoretical part on a definition of the theme to provide students with the conceptual and methodological foundations to understand design and its specific expression in relation to the agri-food sector; in the practical-laboratory part, students will be provided with practical and applicative rudiments to understand the strategies of design on/for/with food and the production of the agri-food sector.

From a cultural point of view, at the end of the course students will be able to understand food consumption trends in relation to historical and cultural contexts, and adequately position the role of design and its responses to the preferences and eating habits of societies. Furthermore, they will be able to understand the birth of food design as a discipline and experiment with the application of the design method, according to consolidated and shared methods, starting from the analysis of holistic thinking applied to the methods of the project, up to the experimentation and production of the object itself.

Particular attention will be given to the communication of processes related to serial reproducibility, an assumption of design, as an application system to artisanal and industrial production processes. In this sense, students will understand how these processes are necessary and nodal, as a verification of the appropriate articulation of the analysis and design phases, which determines a product or service that can be correctly placed in a sales and offer positioning.

The aim of the course, therefore, is to bring students to an adequate level of knowledge and understanding of what it means to design and implement sensory experiences and original solutions that enhance emerging contexts, responding to new nutritional needs or reinterpret existing products in the contemporary world, enhancing their permanence over time.

The theme of ethics will be crucial, its understanding and application to the food sector and in its relationship with the design method: the theoretical lessons and the ongoing experiences, in the form of short workshops, are aimed at stimulating and building an experience that, starting from the application of the design method to the fields of interest of the agri-food sector, leads to a definition of concept, referred to the cultural context, as clearly expressed in the Manifesto of Food Design (see reference in the web resources indicated).

PREREQUISITES

No prerequisites required.

TEACHING METHODS

The teaching will be structured in a mixed mode, in full accordance with the delivery methods established by the CdS; the lessons will be structured according to general themes, suggested and inferred from the readings proposed in the Bibliography.

Furthermore, theoretical and in-depth contributions by external experts are planned, which will be followed by moments of choral discussion, to encourage cultural exchange, stimulate in students the genesis of personal critical thinking and the subsequent ability to articulate and share.

Furthermore, the frontal lessons are followed by ongoing revisions of the work to be drafted in groups, of which generation and presentation are required during the exam, and moments of dialogue, selection and commentary within the binding themes with respect to the cultural panorama of contemporary design, in particular linked to the context of food.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

The Food Design course will focus on the theories and observation of practices related to the disciplines of design, with particular reference to what connects the field of food to the disciplinary context of design, in history and in the contemporary.

In particular, the following will be the subject of interest in the course: 1 - definition of design, from its birth to today; 2 - food design: definition and interest, relationship between history and contemporary and introduction to the articulation, i.e. on-for-with; 3 - contemporary food: on, i.e. packaging, Industrial Revolution and eating habits; 4 - lunch is served: i.e. for, everything from the world of design that is necessary for the creation, presentation and transformation of food; 5 - food-product, i.e. with: when the material is edible and the project is design-ruled; 6 - the relationship between design and trend, the areas and interests of contemporary food design, design and ethics.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

LUISA CHIMENZ

Ricevimento: Encounters may be set by appointment, preferably agreed by email at luisa.chimenz@unige.it

LESSONS

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

The exam consists of an oral test and is composed of the following elements:

- the individual preparation of at least one text chosen from group A and one from group B, indicated in the bibliography as mandatory;

- the oral and choral presentation by the working group of an in-depth research, drafted in written form and illustrated according to the methods agreed with the teaching staff, (identification of the theme/s, assignment of the title, keywords and textual development and illustrations).

- the oral and choral presentation by the working group of the product concept, developed during the workshops and created/illustrated according to the methods agreed with the teaching staff, (identification of the theme/s, assignment of the title, keywords and narrative development).

Non-attending students are required - instead of the in-depth research to be written by the group - to write a research, to be delivered in illustrated textual form - on a topic, to be identified with the teacher, accompanied by the two texts indicated as mandatory in the bibliography (one from group A and one from group B). The exam will be structured through a discussion of the textbooks, their critical and contextual presentation, and the presentation of the in-depth work.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The final exam will be held with an interview, on the topics covered during the lessons and articulated in the readings suggested in the “Bibliography” section. During the final exam, the working group will jointly present the research work and its connection with the textbooks, as well as with any other in-depth readings.

The exercises must be done in groups, and the whole group is invited to take the exams at the same time.

Through the interview, the student's preparation will be assessed, starting from the choice made with respect to the selection of the topics discussed during the lessons, combined with the ability to evaluate, internalize and personally elaborate design expressions and languages. Jointly, the ability to understand the connections and report a logical narrative with respect to a historical and critical observation will be assessed.