The practices developed in some of the best restaurants in the world have transformed the way we perceive the food and, at the same time, they have implemented some operating systems focused on constant research activity. One way to understand and interpret this type of cuisine can be from the design theory. In this paper, some introductory aspects of this approach are discussed and it is showed how it is possible to modelize a case study filed in Science and Cooking Public Lectures of the School of Engineering and Applied Science at Harvard University.
ABSTRACT
KEYWORDS
CK Theory, innovative design, Research cooking1. W h at i s Resear ch Cook i n g?
The r elati onshi p betw een gastr onomy?s w or ld and other ar eas has alw ays exi sted i n one w ay or another ; for exam ple, the food i ndustr y has tr adi ti onally developed tools, techni ques and pr oducts. The r elati onshi p betw een cooki ng and sci ence w as consoli dated i n the ear ly ni neteenth centur y (Castells & Per elló 2000). How ever, i t w as at the end of the last centur y and at the begi nni ng of thi s one w hen ther e w as a r evoluti on that r edefi ned the r elati onshi ps betw een the gastr onomy?s w or ld and ever ythi ng ar ound i t. Thi s new w ay of under standi ng cooki ng has had as m ai n actor s Heston Blum enthal, Thom as Keller and Fer r an Adr i à, as w ell as var i ous chefs w ho di d stays i n thei r ki tchens and w ho acqui r ed thi s pr acti ce focused on the r esear ch, as René Redzepi , M assi m o Bottur a, Andoni Adur i z or Joan Roca.
Thi s r evoluti on i s com plex and analyzable fr om m ulti ple per spectives and poi nts of vi ew . The m ost i m pr essive i s the tr ansfor m ati on of haute cui si ne i n a m ass phenom enon, w i th a conti nuous pr esence i n the i nter nati onal m edi a. Thi s i s the case of Fer r an Adr i à, w ho dur i ng the year s 2003 and 2004 appear ed on the cover of The New Yor k Ti m es M agazi ne, Le M onde and Ti m e, becom i ng a global r efer ence. Par adoxi cally, i t i s not necessar y to have exper i enced the feeli ngs, essenti ally taste and sm ell, pr oduced by the di shes of any of these r estaur ants, to develop a str ong i nter est and adm i r ati on for thi s w ay of under standi ng thi s ki nd of cooki ng.
The Research Cooking as Innovat ive Design
Joan Camps Lorent e
The key of thi s success could be found i n the abi li ty to tr ansfor m the w ay as the food i s per ceived, and also i n the developm ent of an ow n speech concer ni ng i ts activi ty.
The or i gi n of the Avant-gar de cui si ne, Techno-em oti onal cui si ne, or Resear ch Cooki ng, as Vi lar and Jaques (Jacques & Vi lar 2012) pr opose to call i t, could be found i n the ear ly 90?s, w hen the team of elBulli star ted to under stand hi m self as a r esear ch pr acti ce i n a r estaur ant. In 1992, Fer r an Adr i à spent a few m onths w or ki ng w i th the sculptor Xavi er M edi na Cam peny i n hi s w or kshop. Dur i ng thi s ti m e Adr i à could lear n the w ay of w or ki ng of a cr eative per son, and he could cook by
i nvesti gati ng w i thout the need to sati sfy the ser vi ce i n a r estaur ant. In 1994 the concept of cr eative team began to w or k .
The ai m of the Cooki ng Resear ch i s the r esear ch, to fi nd new techni ques and culi nar y concepts for the subsequent cr eati on of new r eci pes and the i nventi on of new tools. All the activi ti es, or gani zati on, equi pm ent and ti m i ng, ar e focused on thi s goal. M or e techni ques and concepts have been cr eated i n the r ecent year s than i n the last centur y.
2. H ow t h e Resear ch Cook i n g can b e m od el i zed ?
W hi ch oper ati ng system s ar e used for the r esear ch i n the ki tchen of a cr eative cook? W hat ar e the basi c oper ati ons for a techni cal and conceptual sear ch? And, w hat ar e the basi c oper ati ons for the
developm ent of new r eci pes? The answ er to these questi ons w ould explai n the abi li ty of thi s type of cui si ne to tr ansfor m thei r ow n i denti ty. Fr om thi s poi nt of vi ew , the objects pr oduced ar e as i m por tant as thei r pr oducti on system s.
The Resear ch Cooki ng i s an activi ty that m odi fi es the r eali ty i nto thr ee-di m ensi onal level i n or der to allow the developm ent of a uti li ty functi on. Its m ai n pur pose i s the use, and i t shar es thi s featur e w i th the ar chi tectur e and desi gn (Eco 1999). It i s i n r elati on to the pr acti ce of these ar eas w her e i t has to be placed. As i n the case of fashi on, ever y year a new collecti on of r eci pes has to be pr esented. The di shes have to be r epr oduced m or e than once by people other than i ts cr eator, follow i ng pr eci se
i nstr ucti ons.
One w ay to addr ess thi s questi on (i t can be other s) i s fr om the poi nt of vi ew of the desi gn, as concepti on and i m plem entati on of new stuff (Cr oss 2001). A br i ef chr onologi cal r evi ew can be useful to contextuali ze the r efer r ed academ i c fi eld. Sever al author s (Bayazi t 2004; M ogens 201; Sw ann 2002; Wallace 1997) agr ee that the fi r st thoughts about the engi neer i ng desi gn ar e found i n the 50?s of the 20th centur y. Bayazi t placed the fi r st si gns of str eam li ni ng desi gn pr ocesses i n i ni ti atives such as "De Sti lj", at the begi nni ng of the 20s, i n the exper i ence of the Bauhaus and i n later
i n those aspects that could be r elated w i th desi gn. M or eover, the fi r st r efer ences to desi gn m ethods and desi gn m ethodologi es ar e i n the 60?s, i n som e author s li ke Asi m ow , Jones, Alexander and Ar cher. Dur i ng these year s, the fi r st congr esses, sem i nar s and confer ences ar e i ni ti ated. In 1969 Her ber t A. Si m on publi shed The Sci ences of the Ar ti fi ci al and Rudolf Ar nhei m publi shed Vi sual Thi nki ng.
The Desi gn Soci ety or gani zed the fi r st Inter nati onal Confer ence on Engi neer i ng Desi gn i n 1981. Dur i ng the 80?s, the fi r st academ i c jour nals appear ed: Desi gn Studi es i n 1979, Desi gn Issues i n 1984, and i n 1989 the Resear ch i n Engi neer i ng Desi gn. At the sam e decade, the books by Hubka, Pahl and Bei tz, Fr ench, Cr oss and Pugh w er e publi shed. All these r efer ences can be found i n the ar ti cle by Bayazi t. Dur i ng thi s decade w er e also w r i tten: How Designers Think by Br yan Law son i n 1980, Educating the Reflective Practitioner by Donald Schön i n 1983,
Design Thinking Peter Row e i n 1987 and i n 1995 Ikuji r o Nonaka w r i tes The Knowledge - Creating Company.
Dur i ng the last decades, sever al theor i es have been pr oposed, as the Gener al Desi gn Theor y, the Ger o?s Desi gn Pr ototypes, the Axi om ati c Desi gn, the Infused Desi gn and Concept- Know ledge Theor y, am ong other s. Refer ences to these theor i es can be found i n the ar ti cles of Thom pson and Par edi s (2010), and Hatchuel (2011). A desi gn theor y i s a m odel of the act of desi gn that allow s the i nter pr etati on of the acti ons of the desi gner fr om a theor eti cal poi nt of vi ew (Thom pson & Par edi s 2010). PFor thi s r eason, the System ati c Desi gn M ethod of Pahl and Bei tz and Altshuller ?s TRIZ m ethodology ar e desi gn m ethods i nstead of desi gn theor i es.
Hatchuel and Wei l (1999; 2002; 2003; 2007; 2009) pr opose a theor y, the Concept-Know ledge Theor y w hi ch i s based on the di sti ncti on and i nter acti on betw een tw o spaces (fi gur e 1) (thi s docum ent i s not i ntended to di scuss the vali di ty of the theor y, but how i t i s for m ulated and to use i t to explai n the cr eative di sci pli ne pr acti ces).
- Know ledge space: r epr esents all the know ledge avai lable for a
desi gner (or gr oup of desi gner s) at a given ti m e. These ar e pr oposi ti ons that the desi gner i s capable of declar i ng as tr ue or false, that i s,
pr oposi ti ons w hose logi cal status i s know n by the desi gner (for exam ple, som e phones ar e m obi le).
- Concept space: A concept space r epr esents pr oposi ti ons w hose logi cal status i s unknow n and cannot be deter m i ned r espect to a given
know ledge space. These pr oposi ti ons cannot be stated as nei ther tr ue nor false by the desi gner at the m om ent of thei r cr eati on (for exam ple, som e phones m ay pr event hear t attacks).
pr oper ty of the object desi gned, and expansive par ti ti ons, that add up to a concept an unpr ecedented pr oper ty (Hatchuel 2003). Cr eativi ty and i nnovati on ar e possi ble due to the expansive par ti ti ons: these lead to a fundam ental r evi si on of i denti ty (or defi ni ti on) of objects. Concepts ar e thus cr eated fr om the know ledge and ther efor e ar e r elative to K. For thi s r eason, di ffer ent desi gner s w i th di ffer ent exper ti se can cr eate di ffer ent concepts.
W hen a concept space i s elabor ated, a desi gner m i ght use hi s or her know ledge ei ther for a fur ther par ti ti on of the concepts, or for attem pti ng a vali dati on of a given concept. Thi s last type of oper ati on i s called
K-vali dati on, and i t cor r esponds to the evaluati on of a desi gn descr i pti on usi ng know ledge. The r esult of a K-vali dati on i s posi tive w hen the desi gner know s that the pr oposi ti on ??ther e i s an object x w i th pr oper ti es P1, P2? Pn?? i s tr ue. The r esult i s negative w hen the know ledge avai lable for the desi gner allow s hi m to state that such an object cannot be bui lt. In both cases, the concepti on ends w hen the concept has been vali dated (or r ejected). The pr ocess can also conti nue cr eati ng new concepts or other (unexplor ed) br anches of the tr ee of concepts.
The vali dati on of the concept i s often not i m m edi ately possi ble. Fr om C?s par ti ti ons, som e object defi ni ti ons, w hi ch could not be know n by the desi gner, have been cr eated. To vali date these concepts, new know ledge that justi fi es the condi ti ons of exi stence of the object has to be acqui r ed. So, the avai lable know ledge has to be expanded. The centr al pr oposi ti on of CK Theor y i s ther efor e, that the desi gn i s the i nter acti on and dual
expansi ons of concepts and know ledge (Hatchuel 1999; 2002; 2003).
3. M od el i n g a case st u dy
If CK Theor y i s a m odel of the act of desi gn, then i t should be able to m odel the pr acti ces of the Cooki ng Resear ch. In the follow i ng par agr aphs a possi ble case i s show n.
The di splayed li st appear s as the know ledge that the cook w i ll use to car r y out the di sh, i n that the i ngr edi ents (pr oper ti es) that w i ll be par t of i t ar e pr esent i n the li st. The chef star ts w i th the i ni ti al i dea of ??a r ecei pt w i th w hi te beans, fi gur e 2A, at w hi ch he w i ll add som e i ngr edi ents fr om the li st. Fi r st, he pr oposes an elem ent that can be bacon, but also ?panceta? or ham , fi gur e 2B.
Then, he pr oposes to add fr ui t, i n thi s case apple or pear com bi ne w ell w i th the beans and w i th ?panceta? or bacon or ham , fi gur e 2C. The sam e thi ng i s m ade w i th m or e i tem s fr om the li st: m aple syr up, fi gur e 2D; beer, fi gur e 2E; alm onds, fi gur e 2F. He vali dates each new stage, w i th var i ous com bi nati ons of the i ngr edi ents, fr om hi s taste cr i ter i a (know ledge). The fi gur e 2F show s how alm onds can com bi ne w ell w i th the other i ngr edi ents, w hi ch at the sam e ti m e ar e w ell com bi ned
am ong them selves; but thi s i s not the case for r ed w i ne, w hi ch although i t i s w ell com bi ned w i th som e of the elem ents of the di sh, i t does not m i x w ell w i th other s, and ther efor e i t ceases to be a pr oper ty that can be pr esent i n the fi nal di sh, fi gur es 2G and 2H. The fi nal r esult can be seen i n fi gur e 3.
Achatz does not explai n the cooki ng techni ques he w i ll use for each of the i ngr edi ents. For exam ple, he deci des to pr esent beans as pur ee and beer as foam ; but, he consi der ed som e other opti ons? These techni ques ar e also pr oper ti es of the di sh and they can be pr oposed as they ar e know n by hi m .
As m enti oned, thi s pr ocess can be m odeled w i th the CK Theor y. Fi r stly, fr om the elem ents of the li st and hi s taste cr i ter i a, he ai m s to com bi ne beans (C0) w i th any of these thr ee i ngr edi ents: bacon (C11), ?panceta? (C12) or ham (C13). These ar e the pr oper ti es that the object, at thi s poi nt of the pr ocess sti ll unknow n, has. The object has thr ee possi ble states; the fi r st [W hi te beans + Bacon], the second [W hi te beans + "Panceta"] and the thi r d [W hi te beans + Ham ], fi gur e 4.
In the next step, each state i s expanded w i th the addi ti on of tw o new possi ble pr oper ti es, apple or pear. It cr eates si x new states of the r eci pe (C21, C22, C23, C24, C25 and C26). C23 and C24 cor r espond to the set of pr oper ti es [W hi te beans + Bacon + Apple] and [W hi te beans + "Panceta" + Pear ] or w hat i s the sam e, [Apple + C12] and [C12 + Pear ], fi gur e 5.
As the fi nal di sh contai ns bacon and apple, thi s i s the state descr i bed i n the follow i ng di agr am . How ever, i t could conti nue show i ng the other opti ons offer ed by the pr ocess. In thi s step, a new pr oper ty, m aple syr up, i s added, pr oduci ng C33 cor r espondi ng to [W hi te beans + "Panceta" + Apple + M aple Syr up], and so on. The w hole pr ocess di agr am i s show n i n fi gur e 6.
apple and jasm i ne com pote, cor i ander and lem on, r oses and nectar i ne w i th car am eli zed r ose petal, gr ound di sti llate (obtai ned w i th Rotaval) and fi nally, w hi te Pi am onte tr uffle oi l.
In the pr esentati on appear the elem ents that consti tute the r ecei pt as w ell as the i denti fi cati on of the i ni ti al concept (a di sh that play olfactor y notes of a w i ne), but the sequence fr om w hi ch the di sh w as obtai ned i s not exposed. It i s easy to thi nk that i t w as deter m i ned by the chef ?s know ledge about w i ne and i ts pr oper ti es, i n thi s case associ ated w i th ber gam ot, apple, jasm i ne, etc.... How ever, ther e i s sti ll the need to thi nk about how these i tem s appear on the di sh; w hy a m ayonnai se and not a foam ? W hy jam and not jelly? Is i t better to com bi ne the i ngr edi ents w i th m ussels or w i th oyster s? Or i s better to com bi ne the di sh w i th som e other type of m ollusk? W hat ar e the alter natives that w er e pr oposed at the ti m e of the sear ch of the di sh?
If the r i ght i nfor m ati on i s avai lable, the CK Theor y enables the m odeli ng of the desi gn pr ocess of a r eci pe. Thi s i s possi ble fr om the chef ?s know ledge and fr om the addi ti on and subtr acti on of pr oper ti es that end up for m i ng i t. M or eover, the sam e theor y can be used to m odel the i nventi on of
techni ques, concepts and elabor ati ons.
Accor di ng to CK Desi gn Theor y, desi gn i s a r easoni ng activi ty that begi ns w i th a concept (an undeci dable pr oposi ti on i n r elati on to know ledge) ar ound a par ti ally unknow n object X, and i t attem pts to expand i t to other concepts and/or to new know ledge. Ther efor e, the desi gn pr ocess i s
defi ned as a double expansi on of the spaces C and K by applyi ng four ki nds of oper ati ons, fi gur e 7.
In oper ati ons KC ther e i s an addi ti on or subtr acti on of pr oper ti es fr om K to the concepts of C, so that pr ovi si onal concepts ar e gener ated by the
assi gnati on of new attr i butes. It cor r esponds to w hat i s gener ally called the gener ati on of alter natives. CK oper ati ons cor r espond to vali dati ons, as a test, as an exper i m ental plan or as a pr ototype. Each ti m e a concept i s m odi fi ed by a new attr i bute, i t m ust be checked w hether the new pr oposal i s sti ll a concept. New gener ated pr oposi ti ons can be new sour ces of attr i butes i n the next par ti ti on. The KK oper ati ons cor r espond to the classi cal r ules of logi cal and pr oposi ti onal calculus. Fi nally, the CC
oper ati ons enable the i nclusi on and the contr ol of the par ti ti ons (Hatchuel, Le M ason & Wei l 2004).
Is i t possi ble to i denti fy thi s type of oper ati on i n the Resear ch Cooki ng pr acti ces? In the exam ple show n, the KC oper ati on occur s w hen know n i ngr edi ents fr om K ar e taken and ar e assi gned to the concept of C. In thi s w ay, thi s oper ati on occur s w hen an alter native i s gener ated. Ther e ar e m any equivalent m ethods to thi s ki nd of acti on, for exam ple, i n thi s case, the check li st. The CK oper ati on occur s at the m om ent of the vali dati on of the di sh, at the ti m e to tr y i t for the fi r st ti m e. Once vali dated, the concept becom es a know n elem ent, and i t belongs to the dom ai n of space K.
Another ki nd of vali dati on cor r esponds to the com pleti on of a test or to the r eali zati on of a pr ototype, as the plasti ci ne m odels i n elBulli . Oper ati ons KK and CC ar e functi onal.
pr ocess. It i s fr om the avai lable know ledge that i t i s possi ble to add or to r em ove pr oper ti es to the object that i s bei ng found. Ther efor e, the activi ti es r elated to the acqui si ti on of know ledge and i ts classi fi cati on and or gani zati on ar e essenti al and they should be cover ed by CK Theor y. Dur i ng the desi gn pr ocess i s often necessar y to acqui r e new know ledge, and the w ay to do i t i s by consulti ng outsi de sour ces. For exam ple, elBulli ?s cr eative team s attended cour ses, they tr aveled, and they w er e alw ays studyi ng r eci pes and techni ques. These activi ti es ar e done to gai n know ledge. Faced w i th an i nter esti ng new pr oposal, the fi r st step w as to i nvesti gate i f som eone had done som ethi ng si m i lar i n the past; thi s i s another task that also cor r esponds to the acqui si ti on of know ledge. In other fi elds, thi s type of activi ty i s called technologi cal w atch. The catalogues and the docum entar y activi ty i s som e ki nd of or gani zed and sear chable for m of the gener ated know ledge.
4. Con cl u si on s
Thi s ar ti cle show s how , i n the case of havi ng the r i ght i nfor m ati on, the CK Theor y allow s to m odel pr ocesses i n the Resear ch Cooki ng. The theor y i s a m odel of the act of desi gn that allow s the i nter pr etati on of the acti ons of a desi gner, a chef i n thi s case, fr om a theor eti cal poi nt of vi ew . The i nter pr etati on of the oper ator s as alter native gener ati on m ethods and as concepts vali dati on m ethods allow s us to under stand the functi on of the m ethods used or usable i n the pr acti ce of cr eative r esear ch. So, thi s appr oach m ay be also useful to develop new w ays of doi ng thi ngs, thi s m eans, to develop other oper ati ng w ays that allow cr eati ng new techni ques and concepts.
Addi ti onally, i t has becom e obvi ous that the oper ati ons for acqui r i ng know ledge ar e fundam ental to any desi gn activi ty, and they should com plem ent the oper ati ons of the CK Theor y. The pr oject Bulli pedi a pr om oted by the elBullli foundati on i s a pr oject that ai m s to str uctur e the culi nar y know ledge as m uch as possi ble and to pr esent i t i n a useful and accessi ble for m for anyone. It r epr esents a collective for m of collecti on and ther efor e of know ledge acqui si ti on and at the sam e ti m e i t r epr esents a K space w hose elem ents can be activated i n any futur e Resear ch Cooki ng pr oject.
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Figura 1 Diagrama C-K (Thompson & Paredis 2010)
Figura 4 Diagram C-K Step 1
Figura 6 Diagram step 3
