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    Japanese food replicas “trigger your memory and stimulate your appetite”

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    Gleaming sushi and an “earthquake-proof burger” are among the hyperrealistic food models on display at Japan House London as part of the exhibition Looks Delicious! Exploring Japan’s Food Replica Culture.

    Opening today, the show documents Japan’s history of food replicas, known as food samples or shokuhin sampuru in Japanese, which dates back to 1923 and continues as a contemporary trend.
    Looks Delicious! Exploring Japan’s Food Replica Culture opens today at Japan House LondonThe bespoke replicas are scale models of dishes from the country’s 1.4 million restaurants, produced by craftspeople for eateries wishing to advertise hyperrealistic versions of their menu items to prospective diners.
    Simon Wright, director of programming at Japan House London, explained that the meticulous detailing and bright colours synonymous with the world-famous replicas intend to “stimulate how delicious the food actually is”.
    The exhibition explores the country’s many food replicas”There’s a slight exaggeration to trigger your memory and stimulate your appetite,” he told Dezeen at the gallery.

    Among the works is a dedicated section revealing how the replicas are made, including moulds and stencils such as a screenprint stencil used to create fish scales, arranged in a factory-style layout atop colourful crates.
    Early replicas were cast from coloured candle waxThe display examines the shift from early replicas cast from coloured candle wax, which was historically poured into a box of agar jelly, to the polyvinyl chloride (PVC) replicas cast in silicon moulds that emerged in the 1970s and continue to be used today.
    “Even though the materials are different, ultimately, it hasn’t really changed,” said Wright.
    A contemporary “earthquake-proof burger” is included in the show”The process is exactly the same,” he continued, explaining that real food has always been used to create the moulds. “It’s quite analogue. It’s all handcrafted – there are no conveyor belts and automation.”
    “That means that there’s a versatility to making food replicas,” he continued. “Any restaurant or food establishment can have what it wants. So maybe your hamburger is just a little bit fatter than the one next door – you can give the craftspeople your fat hamburger, and they will make an exact replica of that.”
    Each of Japan’s 47 prefectures is represented by a replica of a local dish”Colours are also made according to actual food substances,” acknowledged Wright, referring to the selection of paints on display that are used to finish each replica, featuring names including pumpkin peel and croissant.
    Another section explores the evolution of food displays, highlighting how the introduction of heat-resistant materials allowed for more dynamic compositions – such as noodles being lifted from a handless fork or cheese oozing from a piece of airborne toast.
    The exhibition features a range of replicas displayed in myriad waysA playful, “earthquake-proof burger” formed from towering piles of artificial meat, relish and onions stands tall on one of the plinths.
    “When you display wax, it has to be flat, because it either melts in the heat or fades in the sunlight, which isn’t very effective as a marketing tool,” said Wright.
    “When PVC was introduced, you were able to tilt the dish by 45 to 60 degrees, therefore giving more exposure and more visibility to the outside of the model.”
    Applications of replicas beyond restaurant settings are also included in the exhibitionIn the centre of the gallery, a banquette-style table presents 47 models commissioned for the exhibition, created by leading food replica manufacturer Iwasaki.
    Arranged like a map, each model represents a dish from one of Japan’s 47 prefectures. There is zuwai-gani, shimmering orange snow crab served in the winter in Tottori, and “scattered sushi” from Okayama known as bara-zushi, arranged in a circular timber box.
    “We chose them for their variety, size, colour and shape,” said Wright, who explained that they consulted people across Japan when selecting the delicacies.

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    Elsewhere, the first known food replica created for commercial purposes is on display. Completed in 1931 by Iwasaki Group founder Iwasaki Takizō, the model is a wrinkly yellow omelette topped with a dollop of red sauce and a replica of a dish that Iwasaki’s wife had just prepared in the kitchen at home.
    Applications of replicas beyond restaurant settings are also included in the exhibition, highlighting the expanding ways that people are using food models.
    Looks Delicious! Exploring Japan’s Food Replica Culture runs until 16 February 2025Mounted to one wall is a 3D chart produced for the Japan Diabetes Society classifying food groups according to their primary nutrients, while a “carrot preparation guide” for family caregivers and nursing home staff features a gradient of consistency – from finely cut vegetable rounds to a smooth paste.
    Visitors can also create their own bento box of replica food on a dedicated food assembly table covered with a red and white gingham tablecloth.
    Wright explained that wax food models were originally created in the early 20th century to introduce Japanese diners to less familiar cuisines imported from China and Europe, before restaurants began to commission replicas of local dishes.
    Today, the Looks Delicious! Exploring Japan’s Food Replica Culture is the first UK exhibition of its kind, and offers London audiences the chance to see handcrafted Japanese models up close.
    “In Japan, you’ll see exhibitions of competition pieces, but they only exist within a context of what people understand food replicates to be,” said Wright. “Whereas this kind of thing doesn’t really exist, and has never been shown before.”
    Elsewhere in London, social enterprise POOR Collective exhibited a collection of work by emerging local designers. Design studio Wax Atelier also presented an exhibition revealing how living trees can provide materials for design objects.
    The photography is courtesy of Japan House London.
    Looks Delicious! Exploring Japan’s Food Replica Culture takes place from 2 October 2024 to 16 February 2025 at Japan House London, 101-111 Kensington High Street, London W8 5SA.Visit Dezeen Events Guide for a guide to the festival and other architecture and design events taking place around the world.

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      Material & Memory exhibition responds to “raw materiality” of Brinkburn Priory and Manor

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      Tutors and researchers from Northumbria University have filled a derelict manor house, nestled in a curve of the River Coquet in Northumberland, with objects informed by the site’s rich history and materiality.

      The exhibition titled Material & Memory is being held at Brinkburn Priory and Manor, a former 12th-century monastery that fell into ruin and was restored in the 19th century, when the manor house was built alongside it.
      Northumbria University faculty has designed products for Brinkburn Priory and Manor. Top photo is by Brian Morris and above by Jennine WilsonAround 20 faculty members and researchers from Northumbria University’s School of Design and Department of Architecture created works that reference the fabric and atmosphere of the historic buildings.
      Co-curator and assistant design professor Anthony Forsyth said the pieces created for the show were influenced by the “tranquil and atmospheric” spaces at Brinkburn, as well as by the multiple layers of history evident in the empty rooms.
      Josh South’s Nook candleholders replicate the form of a shouldered door arch”The raw materiality of the spaces is a rich source of inspiration, while the span of history informs an approach that is contemporary yet acknowledges the past,” he explained.

      Several contributions reference architectural features that were exposed as part of English Heritage’s efforts to stop dry rot from destroying the manor, which had fallen into disrepair before the preservation charity took over responsibility for the house in 1965.
      Anthony Forsyth’s Mullion plinths are shaped like the manor’s stone window mullionsForsyth’s Mullion plinths feature forms derived from the tapered profile of the building’s stone window mullions, while the Nook candleholders created by design lecturer Joshua South replicate the form of a shouldered door arch in patinated sand-cast bronze.
      In collaboration with woodworker Johnny Hayes, South also developed the Quatrefoil tables, which are based on a pattern of overlapping circles commonly featured in medieval emblems and found in the stained-glass windows of the Priory at Brinkburn.
      South’s Quatrefoil tables are based on the priory’s stained-glass windowsPhilip Luscombe, who teaches on the university’s Furniture and Product course, created a lamp with an oak structure that evokes the robust construction of church furniture.
      The Monk lamp’s paper diffuser references religious texts and creates a warm glow when the light is turned on.

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      Forsyth also developed the Assemblage floor lamp, constructed using off-the-shelf components and parts retained from other projects.
      The design is informed by the state of the interior at Brinkburn, where layers of construction have been exposed and the reuse of materials is evident.
      Phil Luscombe has created a lamp with an oak structure that references church furnitureBen Couture, assistant architecture professor and co-curator of the exhibition, created a geometric yellow bench that intentionally contrasts with the architectural style of the manor house.
      The bench responds to the dimensions of the adjacent windows, through which visitors can look out towards the river.
      The exhibition includes various other works in mixed media, ranging from etchings to printed textiles, photomontages and wallpapers. Each of the pieces was created following repeated visits to the site and through conversations with experts at English Heritage.
      Ben Couture designed a geometric yellow bench. The photo is by Brian MorrisThe charity previously worked with Northumbria University on a similar exhibition of objects displayed at Aydon Castle, also in Northumberland.
      According to Frances McIntosh, a curator at English Heritage, the Material & Memory exhibition makes good use of the normally empty rooms, encouraging visitors to reconsider the past, present and future of these historic spaces.
      “Brinkburn Priory Manor House is like a blank canvas and exhibitions like this are a great way to use the space and allow visitors to think more deeply about the complicated layers of the building they can see,” she said.
      The photography is by Phil Luscombe unless otherwise stated.
      Material & Memory is on show at Brinkburn Priory and Manor until 3 November 2024. For more events, exhibitions and talks in architecture and design visit the Dezeen Events Guide.

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      Barbie exhibition aims to show toy is “worthy proposition from a design point of view”

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      The Barbie dolls and Dreamhouses featured in Barbie: The Exhibition at London’s Design Museum reflect shifts in visual culture over the famed toy’s 65 years.

      With over 250 objects on display, Barbie: The Exhibition opens today and examines the history of the doll since it was created by Mattel co-founder Ruth Handler in 1959.
      Barbie: The Exhibition opens today at London’s Design MuseumAccording to curator Thom, the exhibition was conceived to unpack the toy’s design influence over the last 65 years and explore the “myriad technical, aesthetic and cultural decisions that go into creating Barbie”.
      “What I would really like visitors to take away from the show, whether they’ve come as Barbie fans or Barbie skeptics but with an interest in design, is that there is actually a very complex and intentional set of design processes that go into creating the dolls and the accessories,” said the curator.
      A first-edition Barbie is included in the collection”And that intentionality does reflect the social context in which any given Barbie is being produced,” she told Dezeen at the Design Museum.

      “I want people to realise that Barbie is a worthy proposition from a design point of view,” she added.
      The show features dolls throughout Barbie’s 65-year historyCreated by architecture firm Sam Jacob Studio, the exhibition design includes iridescent colourful plinths and cylindrical toy packaging-style cases displaying past and present-day Barbies and their accompanying Dreamhouses and accessories.
      Among the collection is a first-edition, hand-painted doll from 1959, positioned next to archival footage of the earliest Barbies being manufactured in Japan. The exhibition also features Christie, the first Black Barbie designed in 1968, and the first Hispanic and Asian Barbie dolls created by Mattel.
      An entire section is dedicated to the evolution of Barbie’s hairThere is a specific section dedicated to the evolution of Barbie’s now 76 hairstyles available in 94 colours, crowned by a bespoke chandelier made of dolls’ hair.
      “In the 90s, I found that a lot of the Black Barbies had straightened hair,” said Thom. “Today, Barbies come with different hair textures.”
      “Obviously, hair play is fun. Children like to brush Barbie’s hair. But there’s more to it than that. How Barbie’s hair is represented is a way in which the importance of her is conveyed to children,” she added.
      The show highlights past and present furniture trendsBarbie dolls from the 2016 Fashionista line are also on display, which were created to include more body types and skin types. Launched last year, the first Barbie doll with Down’s syndrome also features in the show.
      “I think since the Fashionista line redesign, there has been a much more concerted effort to provide as many different visual frames of reference as possible in the doll line so that in theory, every kid can see something of themselves,” said Thom.
      “I’ve found that more recently, there’s that level of attention to cultural details,” added the curator.
      Sam Jacob Studio created the exhibition designElsewhere in the exhibition, a selection of Dreamhouses chart how architecture and furniture trends have influenced the Barbie universe.
      Designed in 1962, the first Barbie Dreamhouse is on display. Created entirely out of cardboard, the single-storey home features mid-century modern furniture similar to the designs of Florence Knoll, the late pioneer of the modern open-plan office.
      The first Barbie Dreamhouse didn’t have a kitchenWith the absence of a kitchen, the first Dreamhouse positioned Barbie as an “independent woman”, argued Thom, created at a time when it was “virtually impossible” for an American woman to gain a mortgage without a male guarantor.
      Visitors can also find the yellow-hued A-frame Dreamhouse from 1978, complete with a pitched roof and angular windows, which recalls the early work of California-based architect Frank Gehry.
      “It was a little avant-garde for its time,” reflected Thom. “The house doesn’t look very Barbie by our contemporary understanding of Barbie – no pink whatsoever – but these moments in Barbie’s design history reflect what was going on in the world of design,” explained the curator.
      Later Dreamhomes reflect more decorative architecture trendsLater architecture trends also feature in the show, with a Dreamhouse from 1995 revealing a return to more traditional American 19th-century motifs including corner turrets and decorative mouldings, with all-pink, “chintzy” sofas placed in the interior.
      “It’s this kind of colonial-style architecture with sash windows, a portico and vines climbing up the side,” explained Thom.

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      Shifts in fashion over the years are also acknowledged in the show, with various displays documenting Barbie’s many looks. There is a doll with a cropped hairstyle wearing a tiny version of a dress from the late designer Yves Saint Laurent’s 1965 Mondrian Collection, while a host of more “everyday” Barbie garments were arranged within a bright pink cabinet.
      Although Thom explained that the exhibition has been in the works for a few years, as opposed to a response to last year’s high-grossing Barbie film directed by Greta Gerwig, the show features a pair of fluffy pink mules and the multicoloured roller-skating look worn by actor Margot Robbie in the movie.
      “We had a fascinating, kind of informal chat with the set designers about their process,” said the curator.
      Select pieces from last year’s Barbie film were also includedShe also explained why the museum sought the exhibition design of Sam Jacob Studio.
      “We wanted to work with Sam because we felt that his aesthetic, which is obviously very pop-inspired, very playful and colourful, would be a great fit for how Barbie has been presented over the years.”
      “Almost all the objects in the show are tiny,” added Thom. “So we wanted to design something that gave her a sense of presence, and almost in some cases monumentality.”
      “We needed to come up with a design that worked with that, but also augmented it,” she explained.
      The show aims to present “Barbie as a reflection of culture””The idea that Barbie is a reflection of culture I find interesting,” considered Thom, who noted the inclusion of various dolls in the exhibition designed with specific “careers” – Barbie has had over 250 of them in her history.
      “Because it does suggest that her meaning, or meanings, are in the eye of the beholder – the eye of the consumer. And I think that’s one of the reasons for her longevity,” continued the curator.
      “I think there can be a tendency to write things off that might be feminine-coded or child-orientated, as being somewhat lesser when it comes to design,” she added.
      “Barbies are toys – they are mass-produced. They are designed first and foremost to be played with. But that doesn’t negate the possibility that they are important objects.”
      The photography is by Jo Underhill.
      Barbie: The Exhibition is on display at the Design Museum from 5 July 2024 to 23 February 2025. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

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      Designmuseum Denmark exhibition asks visitors to “think about what kind of future we want”

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      Designmuseum Denmark has looked at how design can shape the future through its The Future is Present exhibition, which features projects including a tubular chandelier made from cow intestines.

      Presented at Copenhagen’s recently renovated Designmuseum, the exhibition showcases a range of “speculative and suggestive” works that examine four themes titled Human, Society, Planet+ and Imagining the Future.
      The MYX Chair is a mycelium and hemp chair that has “grown” itself”Design is very much a forward-looking profession,” said exhibition curator Pernille Stockmarr. “It’s about changing the existing into something better – and what we do in the present creates the future.”
      “Living in a time with major global challenges, this exhibition wants to invite people to see and reflect on the different potentials of design in this transformation and encourage them to think about what kind of future we want,” she told Dezeen.
      100 metres of cow intestines were used to make the Inside Out chandelierAmong the pieces on show is Inside Out, a chandelier-style lamp made from 100 metres of knotted cow intestines extracted from eight cows. Designer Kathrine Barbro Bendixen aimed to explore how byproducts can be used to rethink patterns of material consumption.

      Faroe Islands-based fashion brand Guðrun & Guðrun created Vindur, a ruffled dress with exaggerated bell sleeves made of woven silk and machine-knitted milk yarn sourced from dairy production waste.
      The brand worked with textile designers Amalie Ege and Charlotte Christensen and Lifestyle & Design Clusters to create the garment, which was made using a “traditional technique used during the inter-war period when resources were in short supply and waste was transformed into value,” according to the Designmuseum.
      A group of designers created a dress made from dairy wasteMore conceptual works include Beyond Life, a collection of biodegradable paper foam urns by designer Pia Galschiødt Bentzen with detachable pendants containing seeds that can be grown.
      “Beyond Life unites death, loss, and remembrance with the awareness that we humans are part of nature’s endless circle of life,” said Stockmarr.
      Also on show is Library of Change, a “map” of dangling acrylic foil cards charting current trends and technologies, inscribed with questions for visitors such as “would you leave the city for better connection?”
      Beyond Life is a collection of biodegradable paper foam urnsStockmarr explained that the exhibition aims to communicate “the breadth of design” by including works that vary in scale, purpose and medium.
      “Their ability to inspire, start conversations and make visitors reflect was a priority,” she said.
      “I didn’t want the works to be too-defined solutions for the future, extreme sci-fi visions, utopias or dystopias, but exploratory works. Some are collaborative research projects and others provide foresight into design methods, handicrafts and creative experiments.”
      Library of Change is a project that encourages visitors to question the future of designAlongside the various projects in the exhibition, artefacts from the Designmuseum’s own archive that highlight past ideas for the future are also on display.
      One of these designs is the three-wheeled vehicle Ellert, Denmark’s first electric car developed in the 1980s by engineer Steen Volmer Jensen.
      Ellert was Denmark’s first electric carLocal studio Spacon & X created the exhibition design for The Future is Present with the aim of reflecting its themes.
      The studio delineated the show’s various zones using modular bioplastic dividers that snake through the exhibition space and worked with natural materials including eelgrass, which was used to create acoustic mats to manage noise in the museum.
      Objects are arranged on custom tables and plinths made in collaboration with sustainable material manufacturer Søuld, while Natural Material Studio created a mycelium daybed for the show.

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      Stockmarr explained that the show is meant to be a call to action and empower people to reflect on their individual roles in determining the future of design.
      “By asking more questions than giving answers the exhibition wants to inspire visitors,” reflected the curator.
      “The show acknowledges that it is not only designers, architects, craftspeople and experts, but all of us who are participating in shaping and designing the future by the questions we ask and the choices and actions we take today.”
      The Future is Present was designed by Spacon & X to be an immersive experienceSimilar recent exhibitions that explored the climate impact of materials include a show at Stockholm Furniture Fair that visualised the carbon emissions of common materials such as concrete and The Waste Age – a London exhibition that addressed how design has contributed to the rise of throwaway culture.
      The Future is Present is on display at Designmuseum Denmark from 19 June 2022 to 1 June 2023. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

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      Antti and Vuokko Nurmesniemi's “common design philosophy” showcased at Helsinki Design Museum retrospective

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      A vivid orange Helsinki subway seat and an iconic timber sauna stool are among the pieces in this exhibition of work by design duo and couple Antti and Vuokko Nurmesniemi.

      Various works by the late interior architect Antti Nurmesniemi and textile designer Vuokko Nurmesniemi are presented in this eponymous exhibition at Helsinki Design Museum, which charts the pair’s work from the 1950s to the 2000s.
      An orange Helsinki subway seat is included in the exhibition. Photo is by Mari KallionpääFrom kitchen crockery to colourful textiles, the Nurmesniemis created a broad range of designs together and individually over their solo and shared careers before Antti’s death in 2003.
      “The exhibition is important because there has never been a joint retrospective exhibition about this central designer couple in Finnish design history,” curator Susanna Aaltonen told Dezeen.
      Colourful garments by Vuokko also featureArranged across a gallery at Helsinki Design Museum, the show includes a striking orange subway seat that Antti created in 1982 in collaboration with industrial designer Börje Rajalin – a model that is still in use on Helsinki transportation today.

      Visitors can also find an extensive cluster of garments featuring bright hues and geometric patterns, designed by Vuokko for her fashion label Vuokko Oy, which she founded in 1964.
      Antti’s red Pehtoori coffee pot is well-known in Finland. Photo is by Mari KallionpääA red Pehtoori coffee pot from 1957 by Antti is also on display – described by Aaltonen as a product that is “often highlighted as Finland’s early industrial design item” – as well as elegant models of electricity pylons created with interior architect Jorma Valkama in 1997.
      Also central to the exhibition are photographs of and furniture from Studio Home Nurmesniemi, the couple’s live-work home and atelier in Kulosaari, Helsinki, which was completed in 1975.
      Lounge chairs by the couple are defined by black, white and red pinstripesThese pieces include signature wooden sauna stools and 1980s geometric lounge chairs designed by Antti and upholstered in Vuokko Oy pinstripe fabrics.
      This furniture is displayed alongside archival imagery of the designers in their modernist house – a setting still used for Vyokko Oy photoshoots.

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      “All in all, the couple’s shared home and studio house is the finest example of the [their] lifestyle dedicated to design,” reflected Aaltonen.
      “I hope that the exhibition will increase people’s understanding of Finnish cultural heritage and that people will also learn to cherish and preserve objects better, especially interiors.”
      Artefacts on display vary from furniture to pylon scale modelsOther shows at Helsinki Design Museum include a recent exhibition by design studio Formafantasma and furniture brand Artek and a temporary “insect hotel” installation that is currently on display outside the museum.
      Previous retrospectives at the museum include one centred on the plastic furniture and chairs of Finnish designer Eero Aarino.
      The exhibition is held at Helsinki Design MuseumAntti + Vuokko Nurmesniemi is on display at Helsinki Design Museum from 28 October 2022 to 9 March 2023. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.
      The photography is by Paavo Lehtonen unless otherwise stated. 

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