al dente: Pasta & Design
7 June 2024 – 19 January 2025
Exhibition ‘al dente. Pasta & Design’
What does pasta have to do with design? Whether rustic orecchiette, elegant tagliatelle or spherical spaetzle: pasta, spaetzle and noodles do not come into their shape by chance, because they are all the result of long traditions, regional cooking skills and, last but not least, the hands and machines that make them. A beautifully shaped design is not only pleasing to the eye, a harmoniously curved pasta is also particularly pleasing to the palate. Design as a creative activity turns an undefined piece of dough into a popular food that is now mass-produced and served on plates all over the world. No one has ever been satisfied with one noodle alone on a plate, let alone happy.
From the hand to the machine, from the ceramic tin to outer space, from the poster to commerce, from the cooking pot to the museum: the exhibition ‘al dente. Pasta & Design’ sheds light on the many points of contact between pasta and design. It explores the question of how pasta gets its shape and what is done with it in the kitchen and design studio. Between rolling pin and industry, marketing and sustainability, design, craftsmanship and art, it looks at the practical shapers in the kitchen and industry, the tantalising communication design with posters, packaging and advertising, extravagant pasta designs by international star designers and creative works from art, commerce and the kitchen utensil scene.
The exhibition finds a fitting setting in the former Ulm School of Design (HfG), where Walter Zeischegg worked on the very first designer pasta in the 1960s. Since then, international architects, product and automotive designers have repeatedly taken on new pasta shapes, from Philippe Starck and Giorgio Giugiaro to Walter de Silva.
Only two centuries have passed between manual production, fully automated high-tech moulding processes and pasta from the 3D printer. The history of pasta moulding also tells the story of the changing coexistence of innovation and technology. The exhibition ‘al dente. Pasta & Design’ at the HfG Archive in Ulm invites visitors to rediscover the pasta we are all supposedly familiar with through a multi-sensory experience and to have fun with the elegant design of pasta and objects.
The project is curated by Dr Stefanie Dathe, Dr Martin Mäntele and Linus Rapp. The exhibition is accompanied by an extensively illustrated book published by av edition, 304 pages, €34
The presentation of the exhibition is being realised with the kind support of Teigwarenfabrik Jeremias GmbH. The culinary aspects of the exhibition are kindly supported by LAGO hotel & restaurant am See, Ulm, and gastroevents GmbH & Co. KG. The extensive educational programme is supported by Buck GmbH & Co. KG. We would also like to thank HQ Print and Harder Logistics GmbH & Co. KG for their support.
