Cool Contemporary Elegance

There is some very cool contemporary elegance on display here. A kitchen that just oozes superior style and that has avoided being clearly categorised!

The designers have resisted the urge to create a clear boundary between the kitchen and the open plan living space by not including an island. Placing a long island in the foreground with the tall units, appliances and shelving behind, would have created a more condensed and potentially more efficient working environment; but as it sits the island becomes a peninsula and the working environment is extremely open! This open access feel presents a different approach, diluting the appearance of the kitchen and allowing the open plan space to gel. Traditional room definition has been removed, being replaced with a free flowing, social environment; in many ways achieving this can be seen as the Holy Grail of contemporary kitchen design!

However the Mogul would question several design features. Firstly the housing provided for the fridge...has this been left bigger to provide the user with universal options? Secondly, why have the ovens been placed so far away from the cooking zone (hob)? Is it to accommodate the perfect aesthetic placement of the candelabra? And lastly....How do you reach the top shelf?! Stand on the worktop?

Comments

Functional Thinking

Purity is a desirable attribute especially if used to disguise complexity! This design manages to encourage a lingering desire to admire, the type of art gallery presence that demands quiet contemplation to fully appreciate. By cleverly layering simple linear forms and combining a reserved colour palette this under stated design could be considered a masterpiece of functional thinking! Think about it!

Style Peacemaker

To mediate is to broker agreement and here we see a kitchen becoming a style peacemaker. The industrial architecture sets the contemporary scene aptly aided by the exposed ventilation system which has been laid bare through the calculating incisions made by an architect’s drafting pen. Light is allowed to penetrate and contradict the industrial space through more classically styled windows, casting shadows that have been polluted by the traditional influence of Georgian frames. The kitchens detachment from the floor is aesthetically powerful but it also shows how we have become scientific in our approach to functional furniture design. We have learned that it is difficult to reach things at floor level while standing up straight! The introduction of layers, shapes and warm light helps to soften the surroundings without confusing the picture. It can be argued that the kitchen designer has been sensitive to the architecture while providing a ...

Functional Revolution Through Artistic Evolution

Amongst the chaos there is order! And here we see a vibrant mix of functional art that inspires the onlooker to delve deeper into this design and realise the complex levels of thought that have inspired such a flagrant disregard for convention. Excitement can be conjured by the exotic, and this design by Gitta Gschwendtner for Schiffini floats the notion that functionality can become an artistic experiment. To some this may just be a series of boxes but to others this could be seen as an attempt to deliver a functional revolution through artistic evolution. The Mogul approves!

Kitchen Design Think Tank

Search This Blog