Question:
In which discipline is anthropology more important/apparent: architecture or cooking?
That's an offshoot of a conversation my sister (the architecture student) and I (the ethnographic research analyst) have been having.
After watching Top Chef Masters, we were equally charmed by Rick Bayless, and loved the fact that his early career trip to Mexico was as an anthro student. It seemed like such a natural evolution - start studying the people, end up cooking their food, and teaching others about their culture, via the food. Food and anthropology go hand in hand.
But so do architecture and anthro. When I was working at Context, I worked on an enormous study for the American Institute of Architects, all about the building process. From that study, it became very apparent that the best architects share characteristics with good anthropologists - the ability to observe objectively. To remove themselves from the equation.
Last night, Erin and I got into a complicated discussion about which profession - chefs or architects - is more like an anthropologist. Or something like that. We might even be having exactly the same conversation (we usually aren't). But it's interesting nonetheless.
4 comments:
i think the answer to our question is that in an ideal world, they are both equally and almost completely 100% anthropology. at least that's the way i see it. im sure there are other opinions out there about cooking. i know the opposing opinions definitely exist in the architecture world.
This might not be exactly what you're talking about, but it occurred to me anyway: What about the places/ways in which the architecture is influenced by the food? For example, in NOLA, it's ridiculously hot, so many of the houses had galleries or separate kitchens where cooking was done so it wouldn't heat up the house too much. That aesthetic continues to flourish as the New Orleans "style", even in new construction with air conditioning. Similarly, I remember learning about how houses in the Northeast were designed in the 1700s so that the heat from the kitchen dispersed throughout the house. I know that both of these examples are climate-based, but I'm sure there are other examples of food informing architecture (and possibly vice versa).
Erin - I KNOW differing opinions exist in the arch world. They do among chefs, too - both disciplines include people who consider themselves artistes and want to bestow their expertise on the little people is wrong, in my opinion.
And Cail - that is a totally good example of a finding an actual anthro would have that would tie both disciplines together. SO interesting.
The heat issue is obviously not such a big one anymore, but food behavior still has a huge influence on residential architecture. Look at my kitchen...specifically designed this way because of how we interact with food...
Erin - I KNOW differing opinions exist in the arch world. They do among chefs, too - both disciplines include people who consider themselves artistes and want to bestow their expertise on the little people is wrong, in my opinion.
And Cail - that is a totally good example of a finding an actual anthro would have that would tie both disciplines together. SO interesting.
The heat issue is obviously not such a big one anymore, but food behavior still has a huge influence on residential architecture. Look at my kitchen...specifically designed this way because of how we interact with food...
Post a Comment