Bio Scent
An imaginary tofu workshop for a future interplanetary voyage inspired by Chinese agrarian culture
AstroTofu is a design fiction project based on ‘Soil-futurism’.
In recent years, talk about space travel has been centred on the plans of billionaire tycoons and, as such, future cosmic exploration seems now to be driven only by capital. I believe that there should be a more diversified space project which belongs to everyone.
China has long been an agricultural civilisation and its view of the future is special as it is deeply rooted in the soil. In this project, through a series of visual studies, I have attempted to manifest ‘Soil-futurism’, an intersection of the soil, everyday experience, technological fantasy and Confucian cosmology.
Food is culture. Travellers in space will inevitably be nostalgic for the flavours of their homeland on Earth. Tofu, as a common type of food that originated in China, has become an integral part of the culture. As soybeans could be grown as an experimental crop in orbit, I seek to make a connection between cosmic exploration and earthly memories through tofu making.
Yinglun Mao
yinglunmao.design
yinglunmao@hotmail.com