The Act of Eating: Choreographing Eating Experiences Through Performative Design

While multisensory dining is a well-established exploration in the discipline of interior architecture, the act of eating remains largely unexplored as a proposition for experimental design. This research starts from a place of curiosity about the inherent performativity that plays out in The Act of Eating and brings this curiosity into the space of interior architecture practice. If we approach interior architecture as a social and performative practice, then this opens up the question of how interior architects might design for eating, beyond the typical typology approach of hospitality design, and instead design The Act of Eating itself. This thesis was based on the notion that performative design could be used to revitalise The Act of Eating, with the aim to enhance the multi-sensory and social dimensions of eating, and create playful, intensified eating experiences.

This thesis uses a practice-based design methodology to explore the intersection of performance, eating and interior, through a series of experiments and two eating events. The research draws on projects by Marije Vogelzang, Julie Rothhaha and Emilie Baltz, is informed by Pierre Bouridieu’s theory of viewing performance as a 'habitus’ of everyday life, and Dorita Hannah’s articulation of interior architecture setting the stage for people to conduct and perform daily activities. The two eating events EAT ME and Space, Food and You, revealed the social and experiential value of bringing a performative approach to eating design. The research positions a performative approach to interior architecture as a valuable way to enhance the enjoyment and exploration of food through designing eating events and experiences. These events facilitated a playful and dynamic shift, which has the potential to prompt a positive disruption of eating experiences. This research could be of value to the hospitality realm of interior architecture as it pushes the boundaries of what a dining space is by foregrounding The Act of Eating.