Kitchen Think‑Over

Framing Food System Challenges through Design in Affluent Western Cities

Abstract

Fodor, Kata. 2026. Kitchen Think-Over. Aalto University Doctoral Theses.

How can design professions meaningfully engage with complex societal challenges? While the need to address wicked problems is increasingly recognised, the strengths and skills inherent in design may not meld with such ambitions directly. Based on the assertion that the necessary groundwork involves interdisciplinary research and skilful reframing techniques, this dissertation is one such (p)reframing effort addressing food system challenges. Building on scholarship across food geography, food policy, and social practice theory, it aims to section out workable frames compatible with design to take further.

Focusing on the challenges associated with achieving sustainable diets in affluent Western cities, the studies in this work offer a series of conceptual frameworks to enable design professionals, be they practitioners or researchers, to best leverage their core professional skills in contributing to addressing wicked problems while deepening their engagement with the complexities of the food system. For food studies and food policy scholars, these frameworks foreground specific issues related to sustainable diets and urban food systems that a design approach can uniquely highlight.

The dissertation comprises three publications that explore the demand side of the food supply chain. Collectively, they 1) theorise food space hybridisation and 2) develop a design agenda for foodscapes. Publication 1 maps the changing spatial dynamics of contemporary food practices, identifying the phenomenon of food space hybridisation. This term is introduced to describe the combined process of collapse between the physical-virtual divide and the blurring between the private, social, commercial, public, and domestic realms. The study considers both dietary and potential design implications. In Publication 2, the focus shifts specifically to the hybridisation of the kitchen, exploring its social and historical embeddedness. The paper revisits significant societal changes since the proliferation of the Frankfurt kitchen model, highlighting the shortcomings of current urban food space typologies. To respond to the demographic and technological changes over the past century and our increasing environmental vulnerabilities, it calls for a rethinking of the spaces we design, build, and provide for urban food infrastructures. The publication contrasts the task of designing traditional food spaces with the new complex agenda of designing hybrid contemporary foodscapes. Teasing apart the intricacies inherent in this new design agenda is the subject of Publication 3. This paper builds on practice theory, foodscapes literature, and an interview study about urban food provisioning. By combining these elements, it develops a ‘foodscapes lens’ for policymakers and creative practitioners. This lens is meant to help engage with the complexities of urban food system challenges – attempting to strike an instrumental balance between problematising and simplifying food matters.