a global
destination
Intro: For Design Week 2025, we created SMEG: A Global Destination, an immersive concept that reimagines the SMEG FAV28 fridge as more than a kitchen appliance — it becomes a cultural passport. Inspired by the theme Connected Worlds, the project highlights how food preserves identity and connects people across the globe. By opening the fridge, visitors embark on a virtual journey that celebrates the traditions, ingredients, and stories of different countries.
Brand: Smeg
Class: Art Direction S1
Research & Insights
If food is culture, and the fridge preserves it — then the fridge connects the world.
SMEG is timeless design, emotion, and cultural storytelling.
Every fridge tells a story. Not just about a person, but about a place. A nation. A world.
Opening a SMEG is like opening a cultural passport
The Smeg fav28 doesn’t just store food, it preserves culture. At Design Week, SMEG positions itself as an international cultural icon, connecting the world through its fridges.
Immersive Experience
The space is designed like a boarding gate or aircraft cabin. Visitors walk into a booth and are “invited to travel” by opening SMEG fridges that transport them to different countries.
Each fridge includes:
A greeting in the local language
Traditional ingredients from that culture
Background visuals and music that evoke the country
In just a few minutes, visitors “fly” across continents, experiencing food as cultural identity.
Digital Extension
Before the activation the experience start a series of digital campaigns:
Mini videos and photos of SMEG fridges revealing ingredients for traditional dishes.
01
Reels: Fridge Tours with chefs and influencers from different countries showing what’s inside their fridges.
02
Banners and posts with phrases like: “What dish identifies your country?” “Cultural roots. A global gastronomic encounter.”
03
after the activation
As a final moment, each guest receives a SMEG keychain with an embedded NFC chip. When tapped against their phone, a digital postcard appears — a visual souvenir of the country they explored inside the fridge. A personal memory. A global keepsake.
This project showed how a simple object — the fridge — can become a portal to culture, memory, and identity. SMEG isn’t just about function or form, but the invisible connections between people, places, and flavors. The result is a global story told through design.