USI supports Lugano Città del Gusto

Lugano has been dubbed Città svizzera del Gusto 2018 (Swiss Capital of Taste for the year 2018). The popular celebration is the most important in the field at a national level, and it aims to use gastronomic heritage as a driving force to raise consumer awareness on the culture, the quality, and the sustainability of food. It also supports food short supply chain, local producers and local operators in the catering sector. In touch with the true spirit of the event and happy to give its contribution to support its City, USI has decided to show support by offering expertise, ideas and exchange in the different areas of the diversified programme which is taking place from September 13 to the 26.

Culture, Gastronomy, and Tourism

Prof. Lorenzo Cantoni (USI UNESCO Chair) has organised an encounter with famous Catalan chef Joan Roca i Fontané, who manages with his brothers Jordi and Josep, the restaurant El Celler de Can Roca, (first place in The Restaurant Magazine The World’s 50 Best Restaurants in 2013 and 2015). The event will be held by Prof. Cantoni and Prof. Maria Dolors Vidal Casellas, director of the “Gastronomy, Culture and Tourism” Chair at University of Girona, on Friday, September 14 at 6pm in room A1 at Palazzo Congressi. It will be a unique chance to explore the importance of food in different cultures and its role in promoting tourism.

Banquets in paintings and literature

USI Professor Stefano Prandi, director of the Institute of Italian Studies, and Dr. Carla Mazzarelli, will share with the audience their insight on the representation of food in art and literature. Starting from the first cooking book of Western cuisine De honesta voluptate et valetudine ("On honourable pleasure and health") written by Bartolomeo Scacchi from Lombardy in the context of humanism,  the event will be held on Tuesday, September 18 at 6pm in room B1, Palazzo Congressi. 

Technology for the environment and for food

The Faculty of Informatics will present, throughout the event on the second floor of Villa Ciani, a didactic itinerary to explore how the development of the agri-food sector is increasingly linked to technology. Visitors will be able to visit the installation Smart Vineyard, result of a research project carried out by USI, the Agroscope research station in Cadenazzo, and the University of Milan. Also on the second floor of Villa Ciani, participants will be able to familiarise with applications developed by the USI Institute of Computational Science, which simulate the dynamics of fluids and the behaviour of molecules during cooking. In this framework there will also be workshops and meetings on the role of big data, as well as on the activities in the field of software engineering in this area, in collaboration with the USI Software Institute.

Shaping taste with architecture

First-year students at USI Academy of Architecture are the designers behind Villaggio del Gusto, the vibrant core of the event inside Padiglione Conza. The work of the students from Atelier Canevascini, is a combination of design and pragmatism, with an eco-friendly structure made largely by wood, and designed to be taken apart and reused. The Atelier worked as a kitchen staff: individual ideas converged and the final product was obtained thanks to the manual and intellectual teamwork.

Ideas to fight waste

In the run-up to the event, a group of 30 students from the international course USI World Challenges Programme presented to the organisers of Lugano Città del Gusto their ideas to creatively and effectively contribute to the fight to reduce food waste. Some of the ideas ranging from a waste museum to innovative models of consumer involvement will be taken up during the event. 

A journey through taste

At its stand in Padiglione Conza, USI proposes a short trip of four stages to explore taste and reflect on how much this word can tell us about ourselves, our relationship with reality, memory and the future. From the etymology of “sapere” (knowledge) to the philosophical role of taste, from the identities portrayed in the word saffron to trying to guess the future “tastes” of Lugano.

For more information: www.luganocittadelgusto.ch
To buy tickets online: www.luganocittadelgusto.ch/en/tickets
Discount tickets at 10CHF are available to USI students with a valid student ID.