Together at last: modern architecture, ice-cream sandwiches, and wordplay.
Natasha Case and Freya Estreller founded their venture Farchitecture on the principle that eating could be improved by design-and, by extension, on the principle that food plus architecture equals wordplay. The first project developed under the Farchitecture umbrella is Coolhaus ice-cream sandwiches. Served in edible wrapping paper, the all natural desserts are named after some of architecture's best and brightest-Frank Behry, Mintimalism, Oatmeal Cinnamoneo, Mies Vanilla Rohe, and IM Peinut Butter-and will soon be found across the streets of Los Angeles in Coolhaus's renovated truck. It should be a relief for the city's summer heat, as well as an inspiration for dessert eaters everywhere.GOOD: You guys were a huge hit out in the desert at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. That must have been a great way to start a business.NATASHA CASE: The launch was awesome. We connected with the crowd I think. We even had a groupie come back with us to L.A. and vend with us. But that was the right crowd, the right age, the right demographic.
G: And the right temperature outside?NC: Yeah. And we created this whole hangout area and people really liked it. It was a great way to launch-it's such a great multimedia event.G: What about before the launch? How did the idea of combining ice-cream sandwiches and architecture come about?NC: The bigger legs of the company happened at UCLA, where I did an independent research project about food and architecture, and the relationship between the two-how they can be used to enhance one another, particularly how design can be used to enhance the experience of eating. I looked at things ranging from taco trucks to high concept dinners and multimedia video stuff.G: How did you end up with ice-cream sandwiches, specifically? NC: I'd always had the impulse to make ice-cream sandwiches, and I've now found out that my grandfather and grandmother sold ice-cream sandwiches for their first jobs, so maybe it's genetic. But, anyway, I was at Disney, at Imagineering, at a craft fair, where people were bringing and selling all these sort of food artifacts, and I made sandwiches. I used these edible wrappers and had a blueprint of what would become the Coolhaus menu. [Those of us serving them] looked like cartoon versions of architects-we were wearing all black and funky little glasses-and it went extremely well. I must have sold 100 in three hours. I met Freya [Estreller, partner at Coolhaus] around that time. Soon, we bought the truck and started catering events. We've actually just repainted the truck. We've also done architectural renovations on it. The back unfolds into a table. The window unfolds into a bar. It will be ready for an event this weekend.G: The idea of a taco truck that sells ice-cream sandwiches is kind of silly and wonderful. Usually things with academic roots don't register as being this fun, do they?NC: Yeah, I think that I have to be doing things I love. I tried to use my education to be doing things that are fun. Bringing eating into anything will always make it fun.G: The names of the sandwiches are pretty fun too: Frank Behry, Mintimalism. NC: I've always been very into punning. Everyone who knows me knows that. Part of the concept is introducing these architectural names into the mainstream. I'm not asking for the sandwiches to be that didactic, but bringing in architectural icons makes it fun and silly. I'll think of a flavor before the name, and then it's easy to spend hours thinking of the best architectural pun for the name of the sandwich.
