Kitchen Design Think Tank

This is architectural integration displaying a defiant functional message!  This kitchen is resisting complete architectural absorption allowing its presence to be subtly defined through the use of depth variation and contrasting veneer!  The visual result instantly ignites the natural curiosity within us!  Does the surrounding architecture need this kitchen to define the space, using its bulk to create spatial separation were walls were used before!? A monolithic island stands as a solitary indicator of culinary and social intention! The Mogul Approves!! Eggersmann 

There is only one event on the international design calendar that can deliver unparalleled excitement and anticipation to those who choose to comment on design.   Since rolling out in early 2011 this event has snowballed into a colossus of inspiration for designers, writers and anyone else for that matter who thinks that design is important and who cherish the vitality of new ideas and the freedom of subjective expression.   This event is called BLOGTOUR !! Past events have brought together the best design and lifestyle bloggers from across the globe and dispatched them to key venues and events on both sides of the Atlantic, but it was the most recent destination for Blogtour that caught The Moguls eye.   The Living Kitchen takes place in Cologne Germany and attracts some of the biggest names and brands in the kitchen industry including the likes of Miele , Axor and Blanco and provides a unique platform for companies like Du Verre Hardware who labour artisan skills and

The simplicity of linear design is appreciated for its purity, for its wilful determination to remain straightforward and for its ability to remain effortlessly understated in a World that has become complicated by un-necessary distractions! The challenge now is to take something that is commercially un-broken and allow it to evolve into the next generation of uncompromised purity!! This design allows the clean lines to remain but adds interest through the introduction of depth and height variation.   Functional cantilevers, mixed materials and shapes overpower the original monolithic island in a struggle which is sympathetic to the original concept but daring enough to challenge our preconceptions! This design presents great flexibility allowing the more daring elements to be stripped back to a more tried and tested format if necessary. But would the extended walking distances and the appearance of dissolved, unfocused functional zones call the functional integrit

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 reminder that people occ

Walls can leave an abrupt and permanent impact upon a living space, the type of restrictive influence that can be expensive to reverse and can deliver an un-compromising legacy for future design! By creating separation between architecture and kitchen new possibilities begin to emerge!   The kitchen can be used as an approachable, multi functional buffer, providing spatial definition in an open plan setting that maximises storage and leaves sightlines free from obvious obstruction. To embrace change is to consider new possibilities – so imagine the missed opportunity here if this kitchen had been placed against a wall! The modern kitchen can now be defined as an island and this design showcases its potential!

This design teeters on a counterweighted equilibrium causing the viewer to question if this is kitchen or art!   Functional performance is enhanced through levitation with storage being restricted to an ergonomically efficient hot zone.   Variance of height and depth are used to provide aesthetic interest and contrasting colours and patterns provide an avenue for artistic flair. A text book example of contemporary kitchen design by Valcucine!   Love it!

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

Even the simplicity of contemporary design can benefit from aesthetic layering.   Layers can provide definition and interest to a design and help the viewer appreciate how simplicity can be derived from complex thought! Here we see how a simple step in the work surface and deliver multiple contrasts of material, texture, colour and form.   Offsetting the feature creates definition along three planes and introduces some asymmetrical styling to the design.   The elevated placement of the cleaning zone may also deliver enhanced ergonomic performance. This idea is simple but effective and The Mogul loves it!

The aesthetic simplicity of this design helps to camouflage an impatient yearning to be noticed.   The black, super sheen doors absorb their surroundings by reflection and blur the boundaries between kitchen and architecture.   Only the kitchen worktop provides definition presenting an angular anomaly that defies convection and provokes a slight tilting of the head! This angular feature is thrust to the fore with the help of a basic monochrome colour scheme but it is the same choices of colour and finish that help to conceal an anthropometric miscalculation! A slight gradient allows the base unit doors to lean against the wall.   It could be argued that having the units deeper at the bottom adds aesthetic interest and allows artistic flair to be satisfied but it may eventually be a pain, increasing functional reach distances and causing stresses on the lower back!

To ignore the accepted rules of design can be risky but then again risk can deliver its rewards!   This design defies both convention and gravity but in doing so reshapes our expectations! Check out the half bowl worktop cut in the sink area – has a kitchen design super hero signed their work!?   Brilliant!

Exaggerated lines, colours and features make this a deceptive design!   Strong feature colours are used to attract attention away from the benign, architecturally absorbed cabinetry!   The effect is to camouflage the functional identity of the furniture and create some artistic impact! The unique foot well in the floor allows for an interesting subterranean dining experience but it may prove tiresome to those serving the food!!  

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!

In order for kitchen design to keep pace with the evolution of human existence we must consider new ideas and innovations.   By rejecting the surrounding architecture as the divine design influencer kitchen designers are free to explore diverse shapes and forms which allow the kitchen to perform its primary functional role but also encourages new interior design and social trends. This kitchen is a play with shapes, a simple combination of forms which helps to maximise functional performance while delivering aesthetic desire in a compressed form.   By Including a book shelf this free standing design even manages to consider how it can replace traditional living room furniture.   It’s reassuring to know that even though our living spaces and kitchens are becoming more compressed designers can still find room for the ever essential wine cooler!!   Cheers!!

Can you define where the kitchen stops and the architecture begins?   This design uses a seamless embrace to create a contemporary architectural unity that is disguised amid pastel colours and warming textures!   The sequencing of layers creates drama within the design right from plinth to ceiling level allowing the designers to explore texture, colour, form and light to maximum effect. The scale of the room is impressive and The Mogul is convinced that the brief suggested that the entire house should become the kitchen reducing the need or desire to visit any other room.   The architecture has been absorbed by the kitchen and has been granted a vital role in delivering the Holy Grail of kitchen design;   A kitchen that is both contemporary and safe, providing a wow for now and design longevity into the future. This design also displays a trend for 2012!   Polished chrome detailing mixed with wood veneer and paint!   Hats off here because this kitchen is divine!!

Having the extraction system suspended from the cabinetry provides this kitchen with some real architectural independence; it also creates a functional bridge uniting the cooking zones in two separate locations.   The tall oven housing is singled out from amongst consumable storage and presents an inverted cantilever to facilitate the needs of the hob!   This feature creates a “wrap around” effect, a soothing embrace that has the power to cocoon and envelop the kitchen user in functionality and precession engineering.   Add to this the elegant combination of walnut and stainless steel which has been detailed to enhance the physical form of the design and you have got a kitchen that will exceed expectations.

This latest offering from Johnny Grey studios ignites the imagination and represents how kitchen design has developed since being released from its architectural confines. There is a shameless contradiction to this design that empowers the viewer to question how something so futuristic can be accompanied by Georgian framed windows.   But that’s the point!   This is cross over piece, an example of how the right designer mixed with the right client can create something that remoulds expectations, allowing functional requirement to overflow into artistic medium! The springboard island is the centre piece and defines the entire design; it has a looming presence which exudes the strength of steel with metal rivet detailing, more commonly found in a 19 th century shipyard adding heritage to the design.   But this glance into the past is overshadowed by the stellar ambience created by this kitchen.   Any potential user will certainly feel in control as though they are steering a motley

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 !  

Smooth infinite edges are impressive and soft geometry is certainly more approachable but here we see how cutting corners can potentially remove preparation space! This design oozes a space odyssey vibe and The Mogul loves the attempt to punctuate the design with an island that can only be described as a hovering dot of functional opportunity! Really different!   Top marks!