Title
Steel and Flavour


Year
2024


Place
London


Commission
Academic \ Royal College of Art


Title
Steel and Flavour


Year
2024


Place
London


Commission
Academic \ Royal College of Art





Abstract


Steel and Flavour begins with a radical dining structure that critiques ritualized dining practices, reducing the table to its essentials. It evolves into a dynamic landscape of extruded tableware, embodying social entropy and encouraging spontaneous, unpredictable social interactions.



Full text


Steel and Flavour begins with a design concept that critiques the increasing standardization of dining rituals and the rigid spaces that regulate social behaviour. The first part of this design is a radical dining structure—a minimalist table that reduces the dining experience to its basic elements, removing the complex layers of etiquette, seating arrangements, and portioning that govern traditional meals. This structure functions as a critique of societal pressures to conform to predefined norms and ritualized behaviours. By stripping away these elements, the table transforms into a “device to eat”—a tool focused solely on the functional aspect of dining, devoid of the communal bonding often associated with mealtime.


The second part of this concept expands the idea, responding to the rigidity of the first design with an exploded version of the table. In this iteration, the conventional dining table’s patterns are fragmented and dispersed into a landscape of extruded tableware. This design embodies the idea of social entropy—a scientific principle that suggests stable systems require a certain amount of disorder to function optimally. The fragmented tableware, scattered across the space, represents the unpredictability and fluidity needed in social environments to foster healthy and dynamic interactions.


In this exploded version, the tableware is free-moving, no longer confined by rigid structures or assigned seats, allowing for a more spontaneous and fluid experience of dining. The concept challenges traditional ideas of social order and conformity, inviting users to engage in more unpredictable, less structured interactions. This design speaks to the idea that the best social environments—those that foster creativity, communication, and collaboration—are those that allow for disorder, flexibility, and movement.


Steel and Flavour thus offers a dual exploration: first, a critique of the rigid, standardized dining environment, and second, a proposition for an open, adaptable space where social entropy can thrive. It challenges the conventions of dining, and by doing so, creates new possibilities for how spaces and interactions can evolve.


Steel and Flavour begins with a design concept that critiques the increasing standardization of dining rituals and the rigid spaces that regulate social behaviour. The first part of this design is a radical dining structure—a minimalist table that reduces the dining experience to its basic elements, removing the complex layers of etiquette, seating arrangements, and portioning that govern traditional meals. This structure functions as a critique of societal pressures to conform to predefined norms and ritualized behaviours. By stripping away these elements, the table transforms into a “device to eat”—a tool focused solely on the functional aspect of dining, devoid of the communal bonding often associated with mealtime.


The second part of this concept expands the idea, responding to the rigidity of the first design with an exploded version of the table. In this iteration, the conventional dining table’s patterns are fragmented and dispersed into a landscape of extruded tableware. This design embodies the idea of social entropy—a scientific principle that suggests stable systems require a certain amount of disorder to function optimally. The fragmented tableware, scattered across the space, represents the unpredictability and fluidity needed in social environments to foster healthy and dynamic interactions.


In this exploded version, the tableware is free-moving, no longer confined by rigid structures or assigned seats, allowing for a more spontaneous and fluid experience of dining. The concept challenges traditional ideas of social order and conformity, inviting users to engage in more unpredictable, less structured interactions. This design speaks to the idea that the best social environments—those that foster creativity, communication, and collaboration—are those that allow for disorder, flexibility, and movement.


Steel and Flavour thus offers a dual exploration: first, a critique of the rigid, standardized dining environment, and second, a proposition for an open, adaptable space where social entropy can thrive. It challenges the conventions of dining, and by doing so, creates new possibilities for how spaces and interactions can evolve.








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nathan de wouters
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With a master's degree in architecture from both the Royal College of Art [London] and the Politecnico di Milano [Milan], and a bachelor's degree in architecture from LaCambre Horta, ULB [Brussels], followed by an art foundation year at the College of Art & Design [Brussels].
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