Assignment 1: Sketching

For this assignment I was given an interesting task: develop three different solutions to the problem shown below:

In order to tackle the assignment I first brainstormed different ideas of my own, drawing inspiration from things in my own life which I use as a substitute for McDonalds or another fast food joint. My mind first went to the idea of a pick and choose type restaurant, where you choose the ingredients that are presented to you and it is cooked right in front of you as opposed to a cookie cutter burger served with not so fresh ingredients. My first sketch reflects my interpretation of this :

For this sketch, I drew a sort of assembly line of food, where in each section a specific task is accomplished. In the first third, the customer would come up and select the ingredients, from things like which meet to additions such as spices. This would then be “conveyor belted” down to the cook, who would slowly cook the food over a hot fire. The conveyor belt of sorts would be a thick sheet, perhaps of some papyrus, which would be turned by two workers at each end, slowly shifting the food down as it is turned. This way, there would be no electricity involved. Finally, the food would be plated and extras such as vegetables or more spices would be added to the plate in the finish station. Many of the type of restaurants exist where you can individually pick out and see your food cooked in modern life, but I think a port of this could exist in ancient Egypt.

Next, I considered the idea of home cooking, which many people use as an alternative to going out in order to save money. My mind first went to a tasty and healthy alternative to fast food: popcorn. This is a theoretical take on what an ancient popcorn maker could have looked like:

I ultimately decided to do my two expanded and detailed drawings on this idea, mostly due to its seemingly simple nature but it includes many intricate parts, especially the removable tube. The tube, pictured in the small box on the left of the sketch, contains a square blade which is used for removing the kernels of corn pushed through it. The removed kernels fall into the pot below which sits above a fire, and they are slowly heated up until they pop.

Finally, my third sketch is a probably impractical but interesting take on the concept of going from farm to market as fast as possible, or in this case, river to market:

Getting people the freshest food possible is always a challenge. Everyone from restaurants to home cooks want their ingredients to be the freshest possible. This spawned the idea for a river to market delivery system for fish or crops. The Nile was an important source of food and crop water for ancient Egyptians, and so much of their food came from there or near there. However, the Nile could be a significant distance from town. This sketch shows a sort of slide which takes the freshly caught fish or crops and transports it down the slide all the way to town. This way the village receives fresh ingredients as quick as possible for consumption. Here is the page with all my sketches:

As mentioned before, I decided to go with the ancient popcorn maker for my two drawings, as it provided as quick and healthy alternative to fast food but also has some intricate components. For the first drawing, I examined the tube which contains the square bladed for removing kernels from two different perspectives:

The first perspective I examined was looking down the tube. This perspective allows me to highlight the placement of the blade within the tube, as well as the opening in the tube which allows for the sliced off kernels to fall through. This is a one point perspective of the tube. The second perspective is important because it shows the relative placement of the blade better in the tube as well how long the hole is relative to the total pipe length. It also shows the attaching mechanism for the blade, which fits in between two blocks on the top of the pipe due to the attachment on top of the blade. This holds it sturdily in place as the feeding device, essentially a plate attached to a long pole, pushes cobs of corn through the tube.

The second drawing illustrates the actual cooking part of the popcorn maker:

The large pot would rest on a counter made of some sort of brick or stone, with plenty of room for a roaring fire to be created under and with direct contact to the bottom of the pot. The pot also has a small door which can open up to allow for the collection of the popped popcorn inside. In addition, it has a removable lid which is left off while the cobs are being slid through the tube attachments on top and the kernels removed, which fall into the pot. On the side of the pot are extensions which are curved into a crescent at the top in order to place the tube on top.

Ultimately I am unsure if this setup is feasible, as the fire may not have a high enough temperature, and the blade may not be able to remove kernels effectively, but I would like to think ancient people had access to popcorn while enjoying performances and such.

Thanks for reading,

Tim