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The ideal kitchen: sheer dynamism to adapt to the personality of the people who use it
What's the shape of an ideal kitchen? All architects and designers who participated in KitchenAid's Serious About Food Kitchen Lab tried to find an answer to this question. There are those who prefer a modern kitchen with an informal, young and captivating style. Others like a highly professional and solid kitchen, almost like a “stage”, a showcase for the passionate maker to show diners the preparation of every dish. Some like a classic, traditional style. There are also others who like a futuristic kitchen, basic but equipped with efficient appliances that can speed up cooking and make life simpler without detracting from the taste and flavour of dishes.
Some architects, instead, think that the ideal kitchen is a dynamic system that adapts itself to every need and every experience, as well as to all types of spaces and environments. It's a place for creation, games, experiments. It's the undisputed centre of the house which has to show the personality of those who use it through its lines, its compartments, its materials, its colours, its shapes. It is design combined with efficiency, tailored and suited for the person who uses it, the cook as the catalyst and the pivot of a perfect machine to achieve creative and culinary creations.
The idea of a "Dynamic Kitchen" has been supported by the projects of Castiglia Associati, Marc Sadler and Bernhardt & Vella that were presented in April 2017 during an exhibition of the Triennale di Milano. The exhibition was also held at the D'Days of Paris, and will be staged again during the Design Week in London. In these projects, kitchens “move” to constantly take new forms according to the needs of the person who cooks. That's how a kitchen achieves an ever-changing meaning: it changes its shape, matches the rest of the house, changes its lines and its colour, becoming part of passionate maker lifestyle, habits and personality. All “Dynamic Kitchens” are innovative interpretations based on the main figure of the cook, who must be pleased with adjustable height shelves and modular units that can be continuously transformed.
For example, Superleggera, the kitchen designed by Ellen Bernhardt and Paola Vella. Versatile, technological and informal, it has solid worktops, panels for recipes and notes and a space destined for aromatic herbs. Superleggera is a kitchen with a unique design in coloured glass and polished brass, with plenty of space and made of different materials, suitable for those who want to depart from the most classic type of kitchen. When you observe it, it looks more like a contemporary bookcase where every shelf can be moved up or down along supporting cables, depending on a person's needs and tastes. Arranged on a straight line, it's a way of experiencing the creation of new dishes together with the observer, with guests, friends and life companions. Its essence takes shape from a mobile project: it seems to come down from the ceiling, like a curtain, almost suspended, creating a structure that is thin and elegant at the same time and that can be placed close to a wall or in the middle of the room.
The ideal and dynamic kitchen, for those who want it perfectly equipped, should fit into a box. This concept of “container” is the idea behind Artisan Box, a chest in solid wood designed by architect Marc Sadler. Featuring stainless steel finishes, Artisan Box is a kitchen that reveals itself to the viewer through scroll and rotation games. It is a stage where passionate maker and the preparation of the dishes are the main protagonists; a stage that is able to adapt to any size and context, from a country house to a city loft. Perfect to meet the demanding needs of contemporary kitchen enthusiasts who are passionate about refined recipes. Wherever love, life or business will take you, the kitchen you have chosen will always be with you in a handy box, ready to be opened and used.
A dynamic kitchen can also be seen as a daily laboratory, colourful and equipped with spacious furniture to be able to express one's creativity “Liberamente” (freely). That is the name that Castiglia Associati has chosen for its idea. An unusual interpretation, young, fun, colourful and with a rock mood, highlighted by iconic door handles in the shape of a disk. A kitchen made for those who don't like empty spaces, that embraces those who use it surrounding them with its shelves. It is surmounted by a lamp with a considerable shade to illuminate the worktop. It is also enriched by a glass cabinet and a dividing wall that can be used to display plants. The hob and the sink, detached from the wall, are instead placed in the centre of the room to become the undisputed protagonists of the stage. All elements are spread over different lines, offering a playful tridimensional feel that will accompany passionate of cooking in every delicious creation. Different styles for the same concept: a kitchen that literally moves around the cook needs.
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