"SPACE10 is a research and design lab on a mission to create better and more sustainable ways of living."
During my stay in Copenhagen for Mrs Phink's House (more on that later) I had some time to walk around the city and had heard a lot about Space10 so I went to check it out.
The Test Kitchen (in collaboration with Depanneur), a cafe open to the public in a very minimalist style, is the first space you enter. Sitting on the counter and the shelves are multiple kombucha, ferments and pickling jars waiting to reach the perfect setting and flavour. A poster near the counter is raising awareness about the avocado obsession and the issues it's provoking around the world: "the production of one single avocado takes up 70L of water and the increasing demand pushes the production without paying attention to the well-being of our planet". Because of this, they serve a selection of "non-avocado toasts" with toppings such as Kala's Kimchi (who I worked with recently in Copenhagen too!) and some fresh organic sprouts by Nabo Farm (where we hosted the BLOSSOM event in April).
I spotted their new cookbook: Future Food Today so I had to have a quick read (of each page of course). They came up with a series of recipes that were thoughtful about sustainability issues and what the close-future could be like, how we can adopt some new ways of cooking and ingredients already. I personally was expecting a little more from this cookbook, hoping for slightly more innovative ideas, but the truth might simply be that the future is already here with ingredients readily accessible, it's just up to us to create more thought-of ways of using them with our planet in mind. One big topic they cover is growing things at home: herb sprouts, mushrooms and even spirulina. This is an interesting concept to think about alongside helping local businesses thrive, but there is more and more awareness being raised about where food comes from and being more transparent.
Surrounding the cafe in separate spaces is the design and research lab. A total of 30 people work to develop innovative ideas.
"Headquartered in Copenhagen’s meatpacking district, SPACE10 is spread across three floors of an open-plan building with workspaces, a Test Kitchen, an exhibition space, a mixed reality lab, a vertical farm, a fabrication laboratory and an open space for events."
Various events pop up on their calendar:
7th June: Street Art For Social Change With Hanif Kureshi
14-28th June - Future Food Today: Bringing Together Food, Science, Art and Technology’—a group exhibition where food becomes more than just something you eat.
It's great to see more design labs looking into the future of food as part of their design processes, which shows how both are so interlinked. Food innovations require design innovations so both go hand in hand.
Have a look at their journal to read about different issues and questions they are asking themselves, such as Can We Design Our Way Into Better Mental Health?
If you're around in Copenhagen go check it out!
Flæsketorvet 10
1711
København, Denmark