Super Mighty Market
– Same rules but BIG difference ? Not all supermarkets must be created equal.
‘There is no other material a designer can work with that is so close to the human body and soul as the material of food’
Marije Vogelzang
Welcome to a new generation of spaces dedicated to food culture, where ? Located inside my very own head. Please cross over to my ideal dreamworld as this space does not yet exist anywhere else. Over here I design a supermarket – only it is not really just a supermarket – it is more of a space where design, art and food can meet – becoming more like a Mighty Market.
The dream begins with a beautiful architectural form screaming in need for a revival. The structure of what was once a beautiful spacious building whose glory has passed, now sits ghostly waiting in suspension like those christmas ornaments in storage that wait all year for december to arrive. In order to orchestrate the “revival” of my dream food space – it must not only have that “feel good quality” that makes you want to hang out there all day, but also allowing it to be inspiring and stimulating in a way that makes you think about how we relate to each other, our social food culture, how it’s context affects our behavior and choices. Naturally, being a food lover – wannabe- healthy- eater myself as well as an art and design enthusiast, I became interested in finding a “glue” for all these to exist under one context of food culture and how its role affects our senses and perception.
In order to create my dream SUPERmarket THE MIGHTY MARKET I had to think about its social, psychological, chemical, technical and ethical core values. No employees but team members for starters. Environmentally friendly and with a fun attitude. I also didn’t want my supermarket to have the same old shoe box boring construction as most supermarkets do. I mean have you noticed how boring grocery shopping can be? So it definitely can’t have an uninviting interior like the cold, dark, dull, crowded interior in most grocery shops. My Dream Mightymarket has to be part renovation and part innovation – not just to refurbish and old existing iconic building such as one of ‘BEST’ old buildings but
a combination of both, bringing also new ideas of design into one unique place.
Small things make things big and even little changes to an approach can make a big difference. With this in mind, I dream of the inside – it will be subdivided into areas such as a gallery for instance, where food exhibitions and lectures are given maybe by someone like Daniel Spoerri who’s been an icon of the food art movement since the 60’s. A space in which I dream of bringing in people to host events like Marije Volgezand or Droog, some nutrition specialists and chefs as well as artists and designers such as Ayako Suwa who’s emotional food art won her international acclaim in 2008 .
‘Designed by Marije Volgezand for a meal for Droog design, she hung the table cloth to the ceiling as a means to conceal signs of status like clothing. The meals were served on plates that had to be shared as she supplied the guests with unusual eating utensils for this purpose.’
Back to my dream. Incorporated but not occupying the same space you can find an area for home appliances that follow the same motto for innovative conscious design. Everything in this alter- space-s is meant to make you feel something, and actually the whole supermarket is designed to make you feel something – in other words, it is designed to make you become aware of your senses. The rails for the stairs are cold to the touch to wake you up. Similarly all the senses are thought of in every detail of the stores design and even the lay out of the products is carefully thought through. From the lighting to the sound, even the sense of smell is incorporated to bring different sensorial experiences. Some of the products you would see in this supermarket wouldn’t be the ideal healthiest, although its main focus IS the organic and healthy, and the selection of others redefined. Some of the products you can find at the Mighty market are for instance “EYE CANDY” by the Play coalition for Beta Tank who use something called sensory substitution to allow you to see images contained within the candy.
The packaging of products can’t stay behind and would have to be considered – it must aim to avoid sacrificing freshness amongst other factors in favor of warehouse storage as well as its reusability . Playing an important role as an example leader is ‘ Grown in transit’ by Design Academy Eindhoven graduate Agata Jaworska whose concept is simple: the food grows in the package as it is in transit to reach you changing the label from ‘best before’ to ‘ready by’.
At the eating area you would find ‘tasteful design’ and edible design pieces such as cutlery made out of food etc.. maybe since it is my dream, Nosigner would design the interior which would feature for instance his light unit “Spring rain” made out of bean starch vermicelli, which is edible when boiled (meaning no trash- zero!), or sell things like the ‘Unsustainable’ necklace by Greetje van Helmond for whom choosing food as material is a comment on the impermanence of fashion.
But the dream doesn’t end there. At the Mighty Market you can use books as currency which will eventually create the mighty market interactive library.
Wel bekome !