Concept
April 29 – May 25, 2025
An exhibition on food identity as a culture of design
Food and design: two elements that seem distant but are deeply intertwined, both expressions of behavior, culture, and transformation.
“Essential and Everyday. Scenarios and Rituals of Contemporary Food” is the title of the exhibition hosted by ADI Design Museum in conjunction with TuttoFood Milano 2025 at Fiera Milano and with TuttoFood Week – Nourishing the Future, the city-wide program of events, meetings, and installations that will animate the city of Milan.
Curated by Carlo Branzaglia and Giulio Iacchetti, the exhibition serves as an exploration of how the objects and rituals of food tell the story of our time, our desires, our limitations, and above all, our possibilities.
The exhibition revolves around six conceptual matrices, which define the “drivers” of contemporary transformation:
(Pro)portions – Less is more: frugality and sustainability as cultural and economic responses to environmental impact.
(Well)being – Feeling good: health, balance, biodiversity, and nutrition as the first form of medicine.
Supplies – Get your food: the personalization of the culinary act and the rediscovery of the “chef within us.”
Hybridizations – Lunch with the world: cultural contamination, global mediations, and new rituals.
Decorum – A new classicism at the table: aesthetics, storytelling, and the choreography of the meal.
Tomorrow – What if tomorrow: future scenarios, between pragmatism and vision.
Each matrix is explored through a selection of iconic design objects, experimental projects, innovative materials, cutting-edge utensils, and theoretical reflections that connect food to the great themes of our time: environmental crisis, inclusivity, ethics, education, anthropology, technology, and storytelling.
At the end of the exhibition journey, a special section is dedicated to “Caffettology,” a reflection on the coffee culture as a social ritual and national symbol. From the design of coffee machines to collective habits, around coffee intertwine technical knowledge, social rituals, and everyday aesthetics: a microcosm where design meets cultural identity.
The exhibition will also provide an opportunity for public reflection. ADI Design Museum will host round tables and talks open to the public, featuring experts, designers, researchers, chefs, activists, companies, and institutions.
The exhibition is promoted by Fiere di Parma, Mondadori Media, and ADI Design Museum, with the aim of exploring food as a cultural, design, and strategic element to imagine new sustainable scenarios.
