Kitchen Design Think Tank

To achieve kitchen design enlightenment you must first create a peaceful, functional flow within an arena of artistic conflict!   Creating harmony out of aesthetical tension will deliver the best kitchen designs of 2012.

If you crave a nice cup of afternoon tea accompanied by assorted fancies it is somewhat appropriate that your rather refined refreshment should originate from a kitchen resembling a teacup!   A transforming teacup that is! The Mogul loves this transforming; kitchen pod design by Vitor Xavier as it presents a commercial concept for tomorrow while tantalising the design possibilities of today.   Re-defining the social legacy and fashionable expectations of kitchen design is the biggest obstacle to making a design like this as overwhelmingly trendy as the iPad!   We don’t buy computers or mobile phones on the basis that “bigger is best” we buy them because they are compact, functional and have been painstakingly well designed.   Very slowly, but ever so surely consumers are realising that these attributes are defining the modern kitchen.   The transforming, automated kitchen pod cometh…..or has it arrived?!!

Lately there have been many parallels drawn between the automotive and kitchen industry as both of the products created are functional, aspirational, driven by fashion and provide an immediate insight into the owners personal style choices and social position.   But the type of car you drive does not normally influence the architectural design of the garage it sits in; the same can be said of the modern kitchen.   This design showcases how, like the car, the kitchen is totally independent from the surrounding architecture, becoming a functional and artistic centre piece to the modern home.   And it is obvious by looking at this concept that kitchen designers are now exploring some of the more fluid forms and shapes usually introduced to aid high speed aerodynamics....possibly to keep up with the pace of modern life! Lovely job!!

You grab your coat, put on your shoes and run out the door.   As you turn the key in your heavily modified DeLorean watching as the flux capacitor pulsates with time travelling energy you breathe deeply trying to contain your excitement, as today you are going to see the kitchen of the future.   As you punch in the coordinates in time you notice that there is something wrong as the date you have been given is not in the future it is actually in the past!   Your driving gloves make a griping sound against the steering wheel as the speedometer hits 88 miles per hour and you reach your destination.   Welcome to the vision that is Tron designs Corian by Ernestomeda. This concept design was created to showcase the design versatility of Corian and in doing so clearly illustrates that the only limitation to designing a kitchen is the human imagination.   The design is hinged upon aesthetical presence and uses electroluminescence to wow the viewer.   There is a...

This expanse of stainless steel is like a functional jetty reaching out into a sea of open space while asking for mainstream acceptance by tethering itself to an anchor of conventional cabinetry.   This kitchen delivers a powerful visual experience by allowing light to penetrate through the design maximising the feeling of space. But the lack of storage would certainly be an issue here! The Mogul is guessing that the designers have submerged some adequate storage into the surrounding architecture so that it does not impose on the light and airy feel! Impressive stuff!

The creators of this island have manipulated a kitchen design prerequisite, integrating functionality with social interaction and in the process have created something that is simply beautiful! The sleek linear approach used here is nothing unusual but the addition of an off-set worktop frame to the front of the island is brilliant.   This frame adds an asymmetrical visual stimulus to the design and invites friends and family to pull up a stool.   This element gives the design depth and although the idea is simple it is extremely powerful!! The Mogul approves.

Here we have some carefully designed living room furniture which is masquerading as a kitchen.   Only the sink, taps and scantily clad oven give away the identity of this furniture.   The blurring of the boundaries between kitchen and living space is achieved by introducing low set cabinetry and the effect is amplified by raising the units off the floor.   The void between the lower cabinetry and the standard height worktop is a brilliant feature, misleading the eye and diluting the kitchen experience.   The void cleverly decreases the impact of the higher worktop allowing the viewer to focus on the lower units and subconsciously assume that because the worktop is lower and not ergonomically practical for food preparation the design is not a kitchen. The Mogul loves that void...and the naked oven!!   Not sure about the open shelf unit which runs underneath the integrated lighting shelf!   The Mogul loves that void!!

Some of the coolest kitchen designs are created by applying functional practicality to shapes.   This design certainly wets the taste buds of functional possibility!   The Mogul approves.