Hospitality & Society - Volume 3, Issue 3, 2013

In the attempt to improve patient treatment and recovery, researchers focus on applying concepts of hospitality to hospitals. Often these concepts are dominated by hotel-metaphors focusing on host–guest relationships or concierge services. Motivated by a project trying to improve patient treatment and recovery through the architecture framing eating experiences, this article examines, from a theoretical perspective, two less debated concepts relating to hospitality called food design and architectural theatricality.

In architectural theory the nineteenth century German architect Gottfried Semper is known for his writings on theatricality, understood as a holistic design approach emphasizing the contextual, cultural, ritual and social meanings rooted in architecture. Relative hereto, the International Food Design Society recently argued, in a similar holistic manner, that the methodology used to provide an aesthetic eating experience includes knowledge on both food and design. Based on a hermeneutic reading of Semper’s theory, our thesis is that this holistic design approach is important when debating concepts of hospitality in hospitals. We use this approach to argue for how ‘food design’ is an overlooked element in hospital eating environments today, and further point at how Semper’s discourse on theatricality can be used to add a more nuanced perspective to future hospitality studies.

The production and consumption of food plays a highly visible and vital role in the public life of cities and in the creation of hospitable public spaces. Food acts as a vehicle for facilitating sustenance and sociability to urban spaces. The application of Modernist principles in post-war urban redevelopment projects led to urban sprawl, which in turn led to more economic and social action taking place at the edge of cities and suburbs, rather than in the centre, where it used to be. Issues of ‘food and the city’ are being discussed in current literature, however, to date there has been no systematic analysis undertaken to indicate which form of integrating food and the city is more beneficial to the social lives of cities. This article investigates two forms of food-centred space within the city, the gastronomic quarter of the city and the food court of the shopping mall, and establishes the differences and connections between the two environments. Using Jane Jacobs’ theory of diversity as a framework, the article explores the effects mall food courts and gastronomic quarters have on the city, and whether and how these environments contribute to the diversity and vitality of urban space.

This research details the potential for design-led interventions in regards to assistive cutlery within a hospitality environment. Design for disability, especially in terms of cutlery, has remained aesthetically stagnant within the area of hospitality. Products currently exist for use in the home environment, however due to a lack of concentration on the aesthetic resolution, they remain under-utilized. The importance of industrial design as a discipline to influence change in current product development activities for this industry is highlighted, and shows that the physical manifestation of a product is a result of a professionally trained industrial designer who increasingly utilizes inclusive design principles to develop appealing assistive products.

Culinary arts education has remained largely unchanged for more than a century. Since the time of Auguste Escoffier, students have been taught French classical cookery using a master-apprentice model of education that began in the Middle Ages. While the vocational apprenticeship has been replaced in some instances by education delivered by public and private institutes, rote learning from a master continues. Contrast this with the fast pace of modern cookery and an outpouring of culinary innovation not seen in at least 150 years and you have an education system that simply cannot keep up. This article discusses the current culinary arts education system in New Zealand and identifies several forces that are highlighting the need for change. Food media’s popularizing of culinary design provides both inspiration and aspiration for those wanting to learn culinary arts. Meanwhile, the New Zealand Government promotes design through its technology curriculum and lauds design-led business and creative industries as the way of the future. Surrounding this is a growing global awareness of the challenges that we face in providing safe, sustainable and ethical food to an increasing population. The article concludes by briefly outlining how Otago Polytechnic’s Bachelor of Culinary Arts is attempting a paradigm shift that has N. Cross’ ‘designerly thinking’ at its core.

On the Move: The Journey of Refugees in New Literatures in English, Geetha Ganapathy-Doré and Helga Ramsey-Kurz (eds) (2012) Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholar Publishing, 195 pp., ISBN: 978-1-4438-3990-7, (hbk), £39.99

Sustainable Culinary Systems: Local Foods, Innovation, Tourism and Hospitality, C. Michael Hall and Stefan Gössling (eds) (2013) Abingdon: Routledge, 312 pp., ISBN 978-0-415-53370-6, (hbk), £85.00 ISBN 978-0-203-11407-0 eBook, £59.50

Sustainability in the Hospitality Industry: Principles of Sustainable Operations, Philip Sloan, Willy Legrand and Joseph S. Chen (2013) 2nd ed., Abingdon: Routledge, xii+371 pp., ISBN 978-0-415-53124-5,(pbk), £34.99