IAM! is the challenge of a pastry passionate team to create a treat to be "the ultimate way to happiness" in people’s daily life. To realise the amazing mission, the IAM! project put together different minds, experiences and knowledge to get different contributions to the purpose.
Pastry Worlds Champions Francesco Boccia and Massimo Pica, Giuseppe Amato - Artist, Architect and designer - and Girolamo Ippolito - Food Innovator and Marketing Mindset - gave life to the project.
They explored several subjects such as philosophy, design, architecture, history, psychology, sociology, to get inspired and find an exciting path to a valuable concept and meaning.
After that the team designed the shape to be the the full-meaning icon of the project and the beginning of product development.
The shape was fine tuned to magnify chewiness and palate perceptions.
Then, a Pastry Brief was created to magnify palates sensations and memorability, by perfectly designing and detailing any flavour and texture. The brief included exactly the sequence of perceptions in the palate.
Many ingredients were explored and combined together to give memorable sensations. Many techniques were experienced to find the right texture and mouthfeel. Many tasting sessions were run to adjust and reach perfection on palate. In brief, IAM! is a big effort to push the boundaries of Pastry beyond ingredients and techniques. It is an attempt to bring pastry chefs closer to the essence, the why of pastry. And if you think about the why, and try to give an answer, the answer you will find is going to be only one: to add happiness to people’s lives, everyday.
Inspiration
The journey to happiness begins the moment one becomes aware of one's singularity. Dialogue with the other leads to self-knowledge and self-realization, thus to happiness.Inspired by Socrates Thought: Socrates' philosophy consists of a continuous search for self and truth, which can lead to happiness: the one who throughout his life has never stopped searching will be a virtuous and happy man —› gnōthi sautón(Temple of Apollo), Know Yourself.
Philosophical Inspiration: the world and all of nature are made up of volumes of complex and apparently irregular shapes. But looked at more closely, from a different perspective (philosophical, mathematical, artistic), each complex, irregular and unique shape can instead be referred to a universal geometric language, whose basic geometries are represented by the Platonic Solids: basic, eternal and perfect forms. Plato associated each of them with one of the four elements: the tetrahedron with fire, the cube with earth, the octahedron with air, and the icosahedron with water. The Greeks believed in the existence of the fifth element (quintessential): the ether, or air that the gods breathed. Aether became the most magical element of all. Thanks to that the dodecahedron, the fifth solid, took on a magical meaning and then it became the symbol of the universe (Friar Pacioli e Keplero) - fifth element or quintessential.
This special attribution comes from the presence of the pentagon, a figure that - containing within itself the golden section- embodied more than any other the idea of harmony and mathematical perfection . The infinite possibility of visual combination of Platonic Solids, even including the use of combinatorial calculus(Wenzel Jamnitzer), represents the search for the great beauty of the world, nature and the universe, as a geometric representation of the harmonious and perfect balance of parts. Thus, if the possibilities for transformation and combination of the Platonic solids are potentially infinite, then the result of each combination represents a unicum. It is in it that the key to identity or singularity is contained, as the uniqueness of each being, as the unique result of the combinatorial potentials of the basic polygons (or elements).
Design
IAM! is one among the infinite number of combinations of Platonic solids contained in a sphere. The essence of the shape of IAM! is the magical element, the Dodecahedron, the Platonic solid that stands for the "fifth element," ether, the breath of the gods.
Shape's concept is Dodecahedron with rising star. Star is in middle of pentagon and is about to rise in the universe. A star, the essential element of life in the universe, must be visible in the shape. 5 tips of pentagons stand for: 4 elements (fire, earth, air, water) + human being or god. This shape is also created for giving the best mouthfeel once cracking in the palate.
The side and diagonal of the regular pentagon stand between them as the golden ratio. This ratio is incommensurable, that is, it cannot be expressed by a rational number (the soul side of human being).
"To envision and realize artistic pieces and architectures, I deeply believe that it takes a powerful vision (Dream), an expressive design and a model (Draft). And then making them real (Craft).”
- Giuseppe Amato
Artist, Architect and Designer.
Concept
IAM! could seem like a Chocolate Praline, like a sophisticated pastry treat… but it is definitely not.IAM! is the metaphor for the uniqueness of every human being. It is the essential element, the quintessence of singularity, for understanding one's distinctiveness, one’s identity, one's “I”. If shared, it can lead to self-consciousness, the beginning of the journey to happiness.
Happiness is an existential dimension attainable through a human and personal path. Be fully aware of one's singularity, be different, be unique - identity - is the first stage of the journey. The second stage is to discover who we are. Only through others. We can realise who we really are, as individuals. Thats the beginning of happiness journey. Pleasure may accompany happiness, but the enjoyment of senses (pleasure) is ephemeral. Happiness is more profound.
Experience
To fully experience IAM!, you have to literally live a journey with your loved ones.
Sharing an IAM! with them and start a conversation about your own singularity. Suddenly, you will discover, through other’s eyes, who you really are. While living the experience, the map will be your mentor. Click here for your mentorship.