Creative duo Bompas & Parr are no strangers to creating a spectacle with their immersive and sensory design experiences, often making them theatrical and full of fantasy. Their latest endeavour is no different, as they open an exhibition exploring past, present and future of a summer time staple – ice cream, set inside the newly developed Gasholders development in Kings Cross.
Perhaps their most Instagram-friendly exhibition to date, ‘SCOOP: A Wonderful Ice Cream World’ delves into the culture of the sweet treat through a plethora of mediums; expect the world’s first hundreds and thousands fountain, glow-in-the-dark ice cream, a pastel-hued parlour of the future and more. This latest sugary showcase opens as part of the duo’s traveling institute, the British Museum of Food that hosted the Alcoholic Architecture exhibition from 2017 in London’s Borough Market.
Concepts behind ‘SCOOP: A Wonderful Ice Cream World’ by Bompas & Parr at the British Museum of Food
The exhibition travels back to the beginning of ice cream culture, tapping into social references including sorbet moulds from 1714 Rome to 1980s Glasgow, where rival criminal organisations were operating from ice cream vans. Bompas & Parr leave no stone unturned, revealing an educational universe of ice cream that includes a never-before-seen collection of ice cream paraphernalia from Robin and Caroline Weir, the authors of Ice Creams, Sorbets and Gelati: The Definitive Guide, (2010).
The experience starts and ends with the ‘Conehenge’ café that is decked out in Petite Friture furniture and offers up some unusual and classic ice cream flavours including Candied Fruit (1694), All-Day-Ice-Cream-Breakfast (1691) and Cucumber (1845). Sweet tooth softies, this one’s for you.
Visit the best ice cream parlours around the world...
INFORMATION
‘SCOOP: A Wonderful Ice Cream World’ is on view 3 July - 30 September. For more information, visit the Bompas & Parr website
ADDRESS
Gasholder 11
1 Lewis Cubitt Square
London
N1C 4BY
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