Johann Wolfgang von Goethe called architecture frozen music. Bompas and Parr think architecture and gelatin might be a better match.
Bompas and Parr's event reached beyond the visual pleasure of sensuous wobble and the culinary delight of sweet jellies. Honor bound by their commitment to explore the brave new world between food and architecture, they (with the help of sound artist Doug Murphy) captured the sound of wobbling jelly for the the first time ever. These oscillations made up the soundtrack for the evening's festivities.
I wasn't there, but the wreckage that occured in the wake of this post-modern mash-up of aesthetic creations suggests that a good time was had by a great many.
Foster + Partners had a bit of fun with their own Millennium Bridge, which has had its own wobble issues.
Rogers Stirk Harbour and Partners took on their Barajas Airport.
Grimshaw Architects' Eden Project Jelly.
SMC Alsop's entry.
And the winner--Tonkin Liu's Fresh Flower Jelly, based on a moveable pavilion design.
If you think it's all whimsy, check out these quotes:
"The work of Bompas and Parr operates in the space between food and architecture. Our projects explore how the taste of food is altered through synaesthesia, performance, and setting. Currently, the focus of our research is jelly. Jelly is the perfect site of an examination of food and architecture due to its uniquely plastic form and the historic role it has played in exploring notions of taste."--Sam Bompas and Harry Parr.
"As babies, we first learn about our world by touching it and putting bits of it in our mouth. Part of our subconscious appreciation of shape may well be a dim memory of how it might feel in our mouth. Thus, a dome is round and cooly satisfying, while a pointed building is like a sharp and dangerous knife. Jelly architecture returns architecture to the mouth, where we can once again taste it."--Professor Stephen Gage of the UCL Bartlett School of Architecture, and one of the competition judges.