Intersections between Design and Science in the Mediterranean Food Landscape

Abstract

Over the last few decades, design has become part of the realm of food in an increasingly incisive way, with the designing of both functional and communicative products at the service of nutrition as well as of food itself. Design for food, through the interpretative filter of contemporary sciences and interdisciplinary experiments, takes the opportunity to consider the future scenarios of nutrition along with the possibility of finding adequate solutions to the increasingly stringent needs for well-being, health, and sustainability. In this perspective, the scientific literature underlines the benefits of the Mediterranean diet, whose antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, soothing properties, as well as the presence of vitamins, mineral salts, and fibers, constitute a precious heritage to be enhanced and translated into contemporary lifestyles, as they favor the prevention and reduction of various pathologies. This important baggage of scientific knowledge opens up new and unexplored fields of design experimentation for the discipline of design that is able to guide, convey and modulate the values and potential benefits of Mediterranean food culture through the design of artefacts that can be imbedded into everyday life, becoming an instrument for the treatment of psycho-physical well-being.

Keywords

• design and science
• food design
• cultural landscapes
• mediterranean diet
• design experimentation