Design Tourism
Tourists… Maps, having a stupid hat especially for summer; stopping all of a sudden in the middle of the street to take photos… Getting angry to the guide or unnecessary loop of questions about a building is a must.
Design Tourism, a collective of designers based in Zagreb, is inspired by tourism questioning the whole notion through design by dealing with the sociology. Their critical approach led them to create collection of products in Croation Holiday (2012) such as ‘Bukaleta, Croatia – as it is or Lightwear’ and more. Their latest project, Hungry Designers, is focusing on food design in a different manner: designers reinterpret ‘traditional ways of preparing meals’ and ‘create new ways of consuming and enjoying food’.
‘Western European scene is already for years busy practicing a somewhat elitist discipline called food design, which is in Croatia at any rate insufficiently promoted and so new that it is often often misinterpreted. One of its imperatives is an interdisciplinary approach that envolves culinary art, nutritionism, visual arts, graphic and product design, with the aim of creating a better and more intense experience of eating culture…’
— Source
Besides being critical, one should point out that they are showing diverse paths to approach ‘tourism’. Design Toursim, apparently gives importance not only the product but also the experience, the aura surrounding the body by suggesting a conversation between the material, the product and the human being.
