Marije Vogelzang
Designer, teacher, food philosopher and playful rebel. For over 26 years I have been working at the intersection of food, design and human emotion. Not as a chef, but as a designer—for whom food is not just nourishment, but a carrier of meaning. Something that connects, reminds, questions, heals and transforms.
In my work, food design is not about beautiful food. It is about using imagination, together with your senses. And coincidentally, I find food very suitable for that. And if you do something with food, you also make sure it is tasty and beautiful, right?
I have been working as a food designer since 1999. 'There are already so many tables, chairs and vases', I thought, when I studied at the Design Academy in Eindhoven in the late 90s. Wouldn't it be much more interesting to focus on a material and a subject that is transient? Something that you can not only see, but that you can experience with all your senses and that eventually ends up in your body and then the toilet. I actually design poop. And I am very happy with that. Between 2004 and 2011 I had two experimental restaurants in Rotterdam and Amsterdam, called Proef. In addition and afterwards I always continued to work on my designs, for museums for example. My work has traveled all over the world. From the Tokyo Metropolitan art museum, to the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian in New York.
a new field of expertise
I also teach food design and was head of the Food Non Food department at the Design Academy Eindhoven for 8 years.
I teach because I believe that creativity is not a luxury, but a survival skill. Food is my favorite medium: intimate, universal, and multi-layered. When we design with food, we are not arranging ingredients, we are creating experiences. We are evoking memories and planting ideas in the bodies of others.
Over the past decades, I have taught in design schools, culinary schools, international conferences, and through my own online programs. My students have come from all over the world: artists, designers, psychologists, educators, and curious food lovers—each with their own story, each with something powerful to share.
My way of teaching is intuitive, open and deeply human. No fixed formula, but a clear structure. I ask strange questions. Challenge habits. Leave room for silence, for laughter, for confusion, and sometimes for failure—because that is where real learning lives.
In Food Design Playground I give workshops, retreats, lectures and inspirational breakfasts.
take a look at my website
