Kitchen Design Think Tank

Kitchen design is a play with shapes; a medium for delivering functionality while satisfying artistic curiosity.   This design has defied its architectural incarcerator, delivering a standalone design presence amid restrictive surroundings.   By manipulating only one of the 3 dimensional planes this design stands out from the crowd.   In this instance variable height is used to create interest and increase functional performance. The island is elevated allowing the floor to become un-masked; the removal of low level cabinetry also allows items to be stored within an ergonomically efficient hot zone. The elevated, table area allows this design to morph between states of use providing the user with the flexibility of casual dining and the aesthetic interest of a transforming shelf.   Consider how the feature looks when the table is retracted and not in use!   The cantilevered shelf hovers, causing shadows to manipulate the white surfaces and the layering effect is ampli

The power of kitchen design has lain dormant, entombed in an architectural catacomb that has restricted its development and regurgitated a legacy of design submissiveness! Recently released the kitchen is beginning to wreak its revenge, absorbing its surroundings and rendering furniture and accessories obsolete!   This magnetic vortex of design influence is helping to reshape how we live and how home life is designed. If you think that your living space is missing something it most likely is!   A kitchen!

This design certainly encourages a second glance as the eye tries to decipher logic within the chaos!   But look past the aesthetic and instead try to grasp the inspiration!   This concept is abstract, asymmetrical, layered and artistic; it also appears to be intimately integrated into the architecture – or is that the other way around!   This is an example of methodical confusion driven by the human need to be artistically extroverted!   In a functional kind of way! The Mogul thinks that the fitters would have loved this one !  

In order to captivate and delight an audience a theatre must have two working elements; a front of house and a back stage.   The front of house is organised, deliberate and confidently projects a professional and artistic ambience to those in attendance.   Backstage can be busier, more chaotic and is the engine room for success. This kitchen by Mal Corby is complex because it understands its user!   Designed for a professional Chef this kitchen provides versatility and performance in two separate zones.   Front of house presents a mouth watering array of colour, texture and light.   The monolithic island is designed to allow sociability to flourish and yet it can be argued that the lack of stools make the design a little more artistic.   Light is embraced, nurtured and celebrated within the design adding definition to the island and providing some interesting secondary features, with glossy panels reflecting the light beyond its physical reality!  X marks the spot! Peeping out from

The search is on for a contemporary kitchen that will evolve past the flat expanses of uniform glossy panels; and that is why kitchen designers at the leading edge of the industry are now exploring angular definitions.   Contemporary kitchen design is mutating and the process is beginning to deliver the next generation of kitchens. These new designs are loosely built upon the flat linear lines that made contemporary kitchen design such an unstoppable commercial freight train, but now designers are adding some subtle punctuation to their designs. The use of depth, height and colour variation allows the popular linear appearance to stay, but it is now re-energised to create a completely new look.   Higher cabinetry sections become functional pods whilst lower sections blend more easily into a living space.   Key functional elements can appear less obvious because the viewer is distracted by aesthetical variations within the design.   By becoming more intensely scrutinised, kitchen desi

This kitchen has been given an inner sanctum, a protective layer of architectural skin, a buffer against the harsh industrial surroundings, a space that could actually be described as a room.   But is this feature a restriction upon the open plan influence the kitchen has recently enjoyed and a regression into the past? The glass panels expose the somewhat featureless kitchen and living space allowing them to exude a glimmer of warmth into the bleak surroundings.   The elevated room level, contrasting materials and independent structural alignments provides the kitchen with further architectural detachment.   It is as though this is a kitchen within a house within a warehouse! Oh you might want to mind your head when entering or leaving this space.  

Resembling a lunar landing module this compact kitchen will allow any would-be astronaut to enjoy the pleasures of home cooking while exploring the far reaches of the galaxy. No matter what the aesthetics, architectural or planetary backdrop, if you introduce some human animation and some gastronomic aromas you’ve got yourself a homely kitchen!!

There is a simple purity to this design that disguises a cunning technological complexity.    The designers have indulged our innate love of natural materials and geometric form to create a kitchen which can only be described as an exemplary functional art exhibit. This fantastic design has been lovely fashioned from solid ash boards and the functional services have been carefully entombed within the rich warmth of the timber.   The simple shape of the island defies convention presenting a minimal but highly functional preparation and cooking area.   The functional and aesthetical requirements are completely satisfied though the introduction of a socially inviting cantilever which naturally runs off the main surface of the island.   And if the island wasn’t enough, lurking in a background is a show stopping transformer with the visual and functional power to floor any onlooker! This is kitchen design supremacy!

It is interesting to see how this contemporary design has been softened by introducing more approachable geometry.   The underside of the impressive cooking zone displays the aerodynamic qualities of an aircraft wing and could even be likened to the hull of a sea fairing vessel which uses smooth and gradual geometry to cut though the ocean more efficiently. But having the hard edges removed may not only have aesthetical advantages, as cantilevers and breakfast bar areas are notorious hazards for small children who can be unfortunate enough to occasionally pay a painful price for their parents   pleasure of owning a designer kitchen. The breakfast bar of this design also appears to be counter balanced across the lover storage area so it may have been possible to create a fantastic free floating cantilever that could swivel between states of use, rotating 90degrees and resting upon the lower storage area when in a standby position and leaving the living area free from physical obs

When it comes to functionality, mathematical precision, artistic expressionism, architectural influence and sociability you will find that good kitchen designers have it covered!   It is therefore only to be expected that the next step for this band of intrepid designers is to defy Mr Newton and gravity itself! This abstract design gives the cabinetry freedom of movement on the vertical plane giving rise to a personally defined clustered structure under the worktop! The Mogul approves!

Here is an interesting idea; why not have your kitchen integrated into the ceiling.   This design by David Oelschlägel + Henrike Louisa Binder from Germany utilizes the space above head height as storage.    The bucket lights have been designed to have storage space included, useful for small consumable and non-consumable items that would normally be stored in base units.   Once you have finished using the bucket to retrieve the required items you simply pull it down a few centimeters and it goes back up to its original position. This idea is certainly more concept than mainstream but it does highlight the fact that there is a lot of un-used space above head height, normally allocated for lighting fixtures.  In the future, if living space becomes more limited we may have to consider using this space in a transforming fashion in order to make our living environments more comfortable.   However, there is also the possibility that doing this will create a claustrophobic environment

A wonderful example of functional, artistic vision!

Modern kitchen designers see themselves as artistic interpreters of function, providing their clients with a product that will harmoniously occupy their lives for many years to come.   Visionary designers see the kitchen as a small, clinical space free from personality or self expression.   The Mogul believes that the human spirit will always find a way to personalize the space in which it inhabits, so how we make the transition form the homely kitchen of today to the sanitized space of tomorrow will be an interesting road to travel.    The Mogul has booked a ticket for this journey!