Who is GOe for?

Starting with the talent part of the students, it will be for people who already have a career, that is, for graduate students, and who have a very special profile, as I said before, because the faculty will remain in Miramon, in the Technological Park. There, it will be open to people who want to specialize in some way in the field of food and gastronomy or complete their training with new advanced technologies, such as the digital field, artificial intelligence and gastronomy, new fields of fermentation... Taking the part of gastronomy and food technology that does not currently exist in the faculty we will create a training and incorporate it in GOe; so we already have that academic and talent component at the center. That would be a profile.

The second profile would mainly be the innovation directors of large companies and their teams, to create these new solutions in a place where they may not have been. It is well thought out in that second profile of the innovation framework of an SME or a large company.

The third actor, entrepreneurs, entrepreneurs who already exist but do not have a place in this profile, because the entrepreneur in the field of food in Food-Tech is very different compared to that in other fields, such as cyber security, fintech... Because in the end, most solutions in the field of food do not need a laboratory , they need physical spaces, which are not found in many places, and they also require the validation that they will find here. So, for that entrepreneur who already exists or for our university's own talent, if he wants to create a startup at the end of his training, what better place than GOe, that is, for startups to come to Donostia and/or be created there.

And the fourth leg is society itself. Food solutions are human-centered, meaning we are defined by food and literally, we are what we eat. Therefore, unlike in other areas, the interaction between citizens is of utmost importance. So let's say that the first three actors will do the learning work in the GOe, and the fourth, that is the citizens, will interact with the other three actors, be it academic talent, teachers, companies, part of the company's innovation and entrepreneurs.

So, can any citizen join the GOe?

Visit, of course, and interact. We want a large part of the classes or conferences to be open to companies, entrepreneurs, students, of course, and also to citizens. Just like a theater, you can go every week and see what's going on at GOe, what kind of events, what kind of classes, through an app, and you can decide which class you'd be interested in: go to a product launch, class actions for some masters and schools, vocational training centers... but beyond these ad-hoc programs for citizens, try to open as much as possible all the activities of entrepreneurs, students and companies.

Will it also have a restaurant, as is the case at BCC?

Yes, it will have an area for easy gastronomic experiences that will help our entrepreneurs and companies take action. What you will find there will always be a fairly important point of innovation and showcase, and then also the restaurant area upstairs, which will be used for events and showcases, open a few days a week, and which will bring two souls together. Our students, companies and entrepreneurs will be able to show their products in a more ad-hoc way, and it will also serve to complete the panorama of Donostia with something that is not just another restaurant, but a window into the future of food.

Why will it be located in the Gros district of Donostia?

There is a reason to be there. From the beginning, when we started talking with the municipality, we were very clear that what we wanted was to interact with citizens, and that entrepreneurs and companies would also look for this city brand to interact with each other.

So, on the one hand, we wanted to interact with the city, and also, companies, students and entrepreneurs are looking for it for a while. And we also wanted, as we said before, this to serve as the seed of the district of gastronomic innovation. We were clear that we were looking for a central space, which was in the city, and Donostia is a very finished city, with few free spaces in the central environment, and this was the one that suited us better, among those available, among these central options of a space in the city, which interacts with the city .

What can you tell us about the design of the building? What does it represent? What is he looking for?

That's exactly what we were looking for. A design that would tighten the relationship between all actors, that would escape from closed compartments. The one that can optimize the interaction of the different agents there, and even more the space itself changes often, that is, it is a class in the morning, an entrepreneur in the evening, companies, citizens, entrepreneurs and students...

From the point of view of the interior spaces, this tension, this interaction, was an important factor and was taken into account in the competition. Then from the outside, that is, what can be seen when walking, this space had to be attractive, innovative of course, with an iconic appearance, but not iconic like a statue or a totem, but on the contrary, something that invites you to interact with the surface of the building, thus, without knowing what it is also, what will make you feel attracted, want to enter.

A lot of innovation spaces generally abuse 90 degree angles, they are 80s architecture, with a certain beauty, but very aggressive, very totem-like. We wanted something innovative and iconic that would go with the existing location, it is no coincidence that Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), the winning architecture firm, called it "Camino de las Olas - Way of the Waves", playing with the Way of Santiago passing through it. We wanted a place that speaks to the hill of Ulia, that will take you to those waves that you find at Zurriola beach, the beach of waves.

And that's what we were looking for. Inside, it's a tense space, almost like being in the subway, everything is connected in a station, there are no watertight compartments, and from the outside, it invites you to walk, to walk, to touch the skin, to be, to be on the skin, to enter it. It has been very strict, but in fact we invited people who can respond to these things to an international competition. It was a very tough competition and I think the results were very good.

How would you encourage citizens to go to GOe?

I would say that anyone who is curious about the future of gastronomy and the future of innovation has there, in Donostia, what will be the best window into the future and it is designed to interact with you. It is not designed to be watertight compartments, but you will have the main window into the future of gastronomy and nutrition.

How will GOe affect the city's green ecosystem?

Not at all. All the trees and the park area are replaced. It also creates a series of solutions for the communication between the bottom of Grose and the hill of Ulia that did not exist before. In that sense, what you have is a new and more innovative park to ride. If you don't want to interact with the content, the continent offers you one of the main viewpoints of the city and the sea, as well as the opportunity to take a walk through it. If you are not interested in gastronomy or food and just want to walk, you have a beautiful viewpoint and area for a GOe walk.

Do you have more projects in mind?

Now we are talking with entrepreneurs and companies, so that when this opens, those innovation projects already exist in the GOe, and also that we have PhD students, so that they can start working with companies and entrepreneurs there. We will not wait to have the structure. We are working on the content and it will be launched before the continent.

Finally and in summary, what benefits will GOe bring to Donostia?

In a city where innovation is born, greater economic activity, as the main task of the GOe is to innovate in products, companies, entrepreneurs and research, which will be carried out mainly by master's and doctoral students. Therefore, the volume of innovations and advanced services provided by and in the city will increase, following the line we mentioned about intelligent specialization in certain sectors, one of which is food. Moreover, if something makes sense in Donostia, it is gastronomy. It will attract a lot of entrepreneurial talent, academic talent and business talent to the city, who will work and live there.

At the brand level, it will strengthen the image of Donostia, as a city where the future of gastronomy is reproduced and which has evolved not only at the level of restoration, but also at the level of laboratories, training and entrepreneurship, which is unique.