LIVING IN A MATERIAL WORLD
Its majesty the stainless steel, top rated material for the passionate maker.
Materials are the true essence of a kitchen. They define the style and create the mood, by influencing the whole environment with a warm touch or an industrial twist.
And they also make the difference when you are cooking, becoming an essential support. At the end of the day, a material worktop is the kitchen itself, since you will use it for preparing, serving and, potentially, dining. Considering the contemporary kitchen, it is definitely a focal point, that has to suit your lifestyle. Ages ago the countertop was just a small prep area beside the sink, nowadays it is the main character on stage, a key part of the design process. This is the reason why also the offer has become more varied. So, when setting up your kitchen, you can really choose from tons of colors, patterns and textures, ranging from wood to natural stone and stained concrete. But pay attention: not all materials fit your passion for cooking!
If you feel lost and you don’t know how to choose the element that will sign your kitchen, here you are a quick guide to rock in a “material world”. Let’s start from the assumption that a masterful cooking requires the right equipment, so your kitchen must be properly outfitted not just to satisfy the aesthetics but also to support you in your daily activity. The kitchen counters we are going to explore will prove to be an asset in the years ahead.
First, the perfect material doesn’t fear heat, since it is supposed to bear hot pots and pans. Then, it is highly appreciated when non-staining, because you’ll be working with oils, wine, lemon juice and other substances that can damage porous countertops. Last but not least, the most of us enjoy cooking as much as we hate cleaning after it. So, the greatest ally is also easy to clean.
Excluding wood, marble, and granite, for this and that reason, the final solution will come pretty easily: the winner is its majesty the stainless steel! It rates very high in all the essential categories: strong and durable, naturally antibacterial and easy to clean with no chemicals, just warm water and vinegar.
As professional chefs know very well, stainless steel allows you to cut raw vegetables, meat and fish without harboring possible bacteria, and then the worktop shine bright like a diamond after quickly wiping down. But we must consider that, while top chefs adore stainless steel, when choosing it for home interiors there could be some cons: it is said to give a cold and clinical sensation to the environment, also to be difficult to integrate into large areas.
The Serious About Food Kitchen LAB exhibition, displayed already in Milan and Paris and still on tour around Europe, offers us a different vision, proposing two stainless steel kitchens that can perfectly fit your home. Two international well-known designers, Victor Vasilev and Kensaku Oshiro, represented the ideal “Serious About Food Kitchen” by shaping the original KitchenAid stainless steel, the shiny and solid one used to make the world-famous KitchenAid major appliances. It is amazing to see how this strong and apparently static material can dance and bloom in new shapes, adding value to a contemporary environment and being very functional for the passionate maker at work.
Victor Vasilev – The Running Ribbon
Victor Vasilev created the Running Ribbon by expressing a concept, the integration, through the original KitchenAid stainless steel. The kitchen is the central room of the house, included in the living space, as the action of cooking is included in our leisure time. The moment of preparing ingredients is a lively part of the eating experience, and it is a phase you want to share.
The Running Ribbon is the symbol of this idea: it is a tridimensional band of KitchenAid steel that embraces appliances, and an active element itself, becoming here and there, a worktop or the dining table.
It has also an inner meaning: it is a continuum between “yesterday” and “today”, a journey from “tradition” to “innovation” such as KitchenAid story that goes from the globally iconic Stand Mixer, created in the early 20th century, to the ultimate Black Steel Collection, to be launched in 2017.
Kensaku Oshiro – The Whale Tail
Kensaku Oshiro proposes stainless steel at its maximum minimalist interpretation, with a simple element becoming the fulcrum of the cooking experience. It is an essential stainless steel worktop that reminds you of a whale tail: the perfect surface to prepare a kaiseki meal and surprise your friend with a soy milk and honey coulis. Kensaku Oshiro redefines the Serious About Food concept using the oriental archetype of a tiny but functional space, forging the original KitchenAid stainless steel.
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