“TíHú 醍糊” is an interdisciplinary food design studio that takes food as its language, fermentation as its method, and the microscopic scale as its measure.
The name TíHú(醍糊) derives from TíHú (醍醐) link, a term that refers to the pure essence of milk extracted through multiple stages of fermentation and refinement. In Buddhist texts, it also symbolizes enlightenment and clarity. In TíHú(醍糊), we carry forward this aspiration toward TíHú (醍醐), drawing energy from 酉 (fermentation) and 米 (grain), while deliberately dwelling in Hú(糊) — the unfinished, in-between state of fermentation — embracing fluidity, hybridity, uncertainty, and process.
Based in Hangzhou and Berlin, the studio is co-founded by Lai Yongxin, Xu Xijing, and Zhang Xiaoshu, whose backgrounds span agriculture, industrial design, media communication, rural development, and contemporary art. Grounded in manual labor and situated everyday life, they work through planting and foraging, art catering, workshop design, exhibition curation, and product development to explore and communicate ways of living that sustain collaboration and coexistence — between humans and nature, and across diverse cultural landscapes.