We are excited to work with the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY to arrange a visit to this amazing piece of design history, right in the Hudson Valley!

Schedule

5:45-6:00
Meet at Marriott Pavilion

6:00-6:45
Hear presentation from Nicholas Fasciano, the designer that restored the wall, and was involved in its inital production

6:45-7:00
Q&A with Nicholas Fasciano and the Culinary Institute Creative Services Team

7:00-9:00
4 course dinner with Nicholas Fasciano & the Culinary Institute Creative Services Team at the American Bounty Restaurant (only for people who purchased ticket that included dinner)

Price to attend Lecture/Wall Visit Only

• FREE for current college students (must show student ID)
• $10 for AIGA members (must have AIGA membership ID #)
• $20 for non members
  
  
  

What is the Gastrotypographicassemblage?

Gastrotypographicalassemblage is a 35 feet (11 m) wide by 8.5 feet (2.6 m) tall work of art designed by Lou Dorfsman to decorate the cafeteria in Eero Saarinen’s CBS Building in New York City. As the senior vice president and creative director for marketing communications and design for the Columbia Broadcasting System, Dorfsman was responsible for all aspects of the building’s graphic designating the type, design and spacing for wall clocks, elevator buttons, and elevator inspection stickers. He designed what he called Gastrotypographicalassemblage for the building’s cafeteria, using varied typefaces to list all of the foods offered to patrons in hand-milled wood type. The completed work was based on ideas conceived in the mid-1960s. The project was ultimately completed in 1966 with assistance from graphic designer Herb Lubalin, and Tom Carnase, who crafted the typography from Dorfsman’s original design. Dorfsman considered this work to be “his magnum opus, his gift to the world”.

Gastrotypographicalassemblage was discarded in the early 1990s by CBS, but the work’s nine panels were retrieved by designer Nick Fasciano. It was in an advanced state of disrepair, aggravated by improper storage. 

Following the death of Lou Dorfsman in 2008, it was announced that The Culinary Institute would serve as the new home for Gastrotypographicalassemblage. The college worked with Nick Fasciano to fund the restoration, and the work was put on public display for the first time in March 2014 at CIA’s Marriott Pavilion and Conference Center.