Conversation: Emily Abruzzo & Benedetta Tagliabue

When we design spaces for food, we’re engaging with more than kitchens and dining rooms—we’re engaging with the cultural systems that shape how people cook, gather, and share. Technical requirements—materials, workflow, storage, safety—must align with the cultural specificity and emotional resonance that cuisine carries. These environments influence our health, habits, and the rituals we inherit or reinvent, and they frame how communities express identity through preparation and celebration. In a global context, architecture becomes a mediator when food traditions, migration, and contemporary life intersect, asking how space can honor heritage while supporting new ways of living. In the latest issue of Yale School of Architecture’s Constructs, I explore these themes in conversation with Benedetta Tagliabue. Many thanks to AJ Artemel for initiating and facilitating the exchange.