Interview with Nico :

What was the inspiration for your concept?
The inspiration was the experimental approach to molecular cooking. Even after several decades of molecular cuisine, it still seems to be an exclusive game for specialists. So it became my main goal to bring some of the fantastic possibilities and ideas of molecular cooking to all ambitious cooks with an easy to use, affordable appliance.

How does your concept fit into this year’s competition theme “Designs for the next 90 years”?
I think the idea of molecular cooking is forward-looking, but the procedures and methods of preparing molecular dishes are still conventional. I would like to change this with my concept. At first, the idea of printing food seems to be something straight out of a science-fiction movie, but on second thought it is not unrealistic at all. I even think that Moléculaire could be the future kitchen tool that opens up possibilities for food-makers interested in molecular cooking.

What are the main consumer benefits of your concept?
Moléculaire is a futuristic kitchen appliance that offers several new possibilities to professional chefs as well as home users. It’s based on a layer-by-layer printing technique that arranges small particles from a set of ingredients. Within minutes, it prints out three-dimensional desserts, complex structures, shapes for molecular dishes, and patterns for decorating a meal. In addition, it’s easy to use. You simply insert a blister pack into the reservoir, place Moléculaire on top of a plate, and press the start button. Users can also create their own recipes with special software and their own ingredients. Ambitious users can download recipes and share them with other users in an online community.

Describe the consumer research behind your concept.
I conducted interviews with chefs and did a lot of research on the Internet. These approaches helped me to understand users’ interests, concerns, wishes, needs and desires. The outcome shaped my initial ideas and helped them grow. The most difficult thing about designing for the future is predicting the possible social and technological developments (their direction and speed). Therefore, it was very useful to read reports like sociological studies about cooking and future scenarios about the development of new technologies.

What kind of materials would you use to build your concept?
For my concept, I would use polycarbonate as the main material. I plan on applying this material in three different variations, each providing the right characteristics for the different parts of my design. Transparent polycarbonate can be used for the window, black tinted for the lid/display, and white for the body. The robotic printer arm and head could be made from aluminum. A blue (O)LED backlight accentuates the processes inside the printer.

Who is your favorite designer?
I don‘t have a favorite designer.

What are your career goals?
After I graduate in 2010, I want to gain more professional experience in a product-design company. In the long term, I want to further develop my conceptual and strategic skills and step into product-related design management.

Designer : Nico Kläber

The Mobile Art Pavilion for Chanel, initially inspired by Chanel’s signature quilted bag and conceived through a system of natural organisation, is also shaped by the functional considerations of the exhibition. However, these further determinations remain secondary and precariously dependent on the overriding formal language of the Pavilion. An enigmatic strangeness has evolved between the Pavilion’s organic system of logic and these functional adaptations arousing the visitor’s curiosity even further.

In creating the Mobile Art Pavilion for Chanel, Zaha Hadid has developed the fluid geometries of natural systems into a continuum of fluent and dynamic space where oppositions between exterior and interior, light and dark, natural and artificial landscapes are synthesized. Lines of energy converge within the Pavilion, constantly redefining the quality of each exhibition space whilst guiding movement through the exhibition. The work of selected artists has been commissioned for the exhibition. Hadid created an entire landscape for their work, rather than just an exhibition space. Visitors will be guided through the space using the latest digital technology developed in collaboration with the artists.

Hadid’s innovative architecture is the reason Karl Lagerfeld invited her to create the Mobile Art Pavilion. She is the first architect to find a way to part with the all-dominating post-Bauhaus aesthetic. The value of her designs is similar to that of great poetry. The potential of her imagination is enormous, Karl Lagerfeld explained during the launch of the Mobile Art Pavilion at the 2007 Venice Art Biennale.

Hadid’s architecture transforms our vision of the future with new spatial concepts and bold, visionary forms. I think through our architecture, we can give people a glimpse of another world, and enthuse them, make them excited about ideas. Our architecture is intuitive, radical, international and dynamic. We are concerned with constructing buildings that evoke original experiences, a kind of strangeness and newness that is comparable to the experience of going to a new country. The Mobile Art Pavilion for Chanel follows these principles of inspiration, states Zaha Hadid.

Designer : Zaha Hadid via Dezeen