Dress Rehearsal

The central focal points of FADfest 2016, a yearly festival dedicated to the best design, included one of the main the social and environmental challenges we will have to face in the coming years: food sustainability. The term ‘dress rehearsal’ refers to the desire to faithfully reproduce the conditions in which a certain situation should happen, and the name given to the urban simulation methodology designed to reduce food waste.

The dress rehearsal turned into a great culinary experiment aimed at testing the city of Barcelona in organising a sustainable, popular and delicious lunch for the masses, all with rescued food. The food preparation was assessed according to environmental, social, nutritional, economic and logistics criteria, yielding quantifiable data that lent it credibility and allowed us to determine the environmental, social, nutritional and economic impact of the event and compare it to the figures ​​that would have resulted from hosting the same festive event with standard production and consumption habits.

The goal of the dress rehearsal was to generate as little waste as possible, guaranteeing the traceability of all actions. To this end, the process of conceptualising and organising the rehearsal was carried out in conjunction with Plataforma Aprofitem els Aliments, a group of activists that strives to make the most of food.

We researched the city’s needs using ephemeral urban-development strategies, a design tool for urban transformation based on reversible, recyclable and affordable resources.

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Start Date 15/02/2016
End Date 11/06/2016
Title Dress Rehearsal
Mission Commissary and Design
Typology Exhibition and Event
Location Barcelona
Area 4,245.00 m2
Developer The Fostering Arts and Design (FAD)
Budget €40,500 (PEM)
Architects Daniel Cid, Francesc Pla, Eva Serrats
Collaborators Adrianna Mas (project), Guillem Bigas (project); Ada Parellada i Sergi de Meià (menu); PAA, Espai Ambiental i Espigoladors (food procurement campaign); Mercabarna, Veritas, Associació de Comerciants Eix Comercial de Fort Pienc, Gaudí Comerç i Eix Comercial del Clot (food rescue markets); Veritas, Caprabo, Forn Panamà, Vi de Barcelona de Can Calopa de Dalt i Jaume Renobell (food donation); Moritz, Associació cultural Nyam Nyam, El Vi A Punt, Orxateria Tio Che, Calidad Pascual; Alencop i Bici-Clot (food transport and logistics); Mercat dels Encants de Barcelona i Associació de Comerciants dels Encants (tableware); D’ins-Escola Restaurant, Cuina Justa, Escola dels Encants, Dasler i Felipe Celis (kitchen tools and equipment); Cooperativa d’Arquitectes Jordi Capell, Dragados i Ramon Borda (logistics support); Investigació Canyera (geodetic vaults); Àlex Fernández, Bici-Clot i Hippo Roller (barrel-bike); Bird Aprons, Ribes & Casals i Fundació Ared (apron-bag); Teixidors (chef’s hat); ICTA, Connect Hort, Escola dels Encants, Coordinadora de Cooperatives de Consum Poblenou, Cal Peretó i Institut Municipal de Mercats (proximity lettuce); Elsa Yranzo (lettuce tasting); Secretaria de Salut Pública de la Generalitat de Catalunya; *SCPF (communication); Marc Castañé (audiovisual); Plataforma Aprofitem els Aliments, Oficina de Residus de la UAB i Càtedra d’Agroecologia i Sistemes Alimentaris de la UVIC-UCC (environmental assessment); Calidad Pascual (logistics assessment); Urbaser (waste management); ADG-FAD, ADI-FAD, A-FAD, Materfad, Sembra, PAA, Taller Esfèrica, Illy i Kilomba, Joan Farré, Espigoladors, Espai Ambiental, Foodisms, Eva Vesinkansa i Pol Estany (workshops, exhibitions and demonstrations); Dani Pulmón (animation); Marc Aguilera i Ferran Mayoral (disco soup); Museu Molí Paperer de Capellades i MB Papeles Especiales ((paper for signs and tablecloths); Arquinfad; Ambaixada del Regne dels Països Baixos, Het Nieuwe Instituut de Rotterdam, CCCB i Agència de Residus de Catalunya (“cooking materials”); Centre Comercial Glòries, PAA, Felipe Celis, Espigoladors i Veritas (umbrella pigments); Aliba Brass, Batubaroa, Swing Balcànic i Vaquetes del Guinardó (festive walks entertainment); Terrissaria Josep Mestres de Quart (pitchers); Associació Catalana de Cistellaires i Ajuntament de Salt (baskets); Ramon Faura i Adrià Lahuerta (reporters); Martí Abril, Rita Leite, David Torrents i Marc Galán (graphic design by hand); Juan García (sound); Jordi Enrich, Iglú de vent i Paulino Vicente (hot-air balloon); Regidoria de Sant Boi i Cooperativa Agrària Santboiana (ruralia counselling); JCDecaux (ad spaces); Panasonic (audiovisual material); CDmon (web); BTV, PlayGround i Yorokobu (Media partners).

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