maya ben-davi + ori ben-zvi rethink taipei's night market eating experience

design duo maya ben-david and ori ben-zvi have created ‘street eats’, a collection of seating objects and tables that took the metal stool commonly used in taipei’s night markets as a platform for rethinking the market’s space and experience.

with this in mind, the focal point of the design approach was to attempt to isolate and manipulate the existing objects relevant to this places and to produce new ones that would generate recognition and cultural focus.

the project explores different opportunities within the market’s lifestyle with a focus on human experience, wanting to facilitate and enhance social interactions by making them more relevant to current generations. the proposed objects are intended to blend in, fill gaps and offer a perceivable scenario which validates the market while raising awareness to aspects that are currently lacking. the ‘street eats’ collection uses a rough copy-paste technique with ready-made stools in order to develop and test them within the market scenario to explore how people react to them and what kind of new experiences were generated.

the ‘street eat’ project discusses the social role of night markets in taipei, their relevance in contemporary culture and ways design can introduce a more human-centered experience within this context. by playing with an already established design system and functionality, new alternative eating configurations were suggested.

 

the focal point of the design approach was to attempt to isolate + manipulate an existing object relevant to markets

 

the metal stool commonly used in markets was the platform for rethinking the experience

 

the starting point was a common night market’s situation

 

prototypes were placed at the tonghua night market to see the reactions of people

 

by testing the prototypes with the public, new panoramas opened