How to Soften Corners?

In 2013 the Luncheonette came into being by Jennie Moran, a Dublin-based visual artist, as a long-term art project centered around hospitality and food. A 'luncheonette' is a light-on-its-feet food station, which found its ground as a college canteen in the National College of Art and Design in Dublin from 2013 until 2021.  

Beautiful, unexpected things happened there over the course of these 8 years, which had a profound effect on the communities involved. A new culture of conviviality was formed in the college. Lecturers and students shared tables. Families and friends were invited to lunch. Students put their precious family recipes on the menu. Over time, the college became a food destination and was awarded best café in Ireland. In a college strategic review, it was revealed by staff that Luncheonette was the space in which most of the ideas they felt most proud of had originated.  

This experience led to a dissertation and book called ‘How to Soften Corners’, about the role of hospitality and feeding people in educational institutions. It is a prolonged exploration into the complex alchemy of placemaking, centered around the provision of shared experiences using nourishment, shelter, comfort, warmth, light, and tone to treat places so that they feel easier for people to be in and be more poetic.