How has kitchen usage changed over time?
At the turn of the last century the kitchen was usually a utilitarian space confined to the back of the house - a collection of cupboards, cabinets and tables. In most houses a connection between the kitchen and garden was essential as many activities such as washing were carried out in the rear yard and the back door was the most efficient means of smoke extraction. It was a space in which your grandmother would spend a great deal of her time whilst your grandfather smoked on his woodbines by the open coal fire in the front room.
More recently the kitchen has become a status symbol, with clean lines, integrated appliances and soft close doors. While it has generally remained at the back of the house, it is often seen as the heart of the home. Yet its connection with the garden remains - but that's not to say that the garden hasn't also changed dramatically. It is now a space for relaxing - no longer monopolised by washing equipment, which has been relocated indoors alongside a vast array of gadgets and appliances.
What concerns are there about current kitchen design trends?
The fully fitted kitchen has come on a long way from its factory-like functional origins. Building developers now select branded kitchens to market their apartments, proudly displaying them in glossy pictures on the first page of their sales literature.
What's more, a bewildering array of appliances and options for every imaginable purpose have been designed in standard sized units, making the planning of a functional and practical kitchen very simple.
However, there is a danger of two things happening, namely:
- Branding becoming more important than functionality. This can often lead to the development of impractical kitchens just to distinguish brand from brand.
- Kitchen design complacency. Where the autonomous success of the fitted kitchen leads to its unquestioning use and confinement within a single room and ultimately its depersonalisation.
So what does the future hold for the kitchen?
Kitchen design appears to be evolving in two opposing directions, either as what one might refer to as an 'ikitchen' status-symbol, where the brand becomes more important than how it functions as a practical place to prepare food, or a 'mykitchen', where the layout of the kitchen develops over time; it is highly personal, the product of ongoing refinement.
The 'ikitchen' is an impressive, high performance show-piece with incredible appliances, the cleanest of lines - a beautiful object of desire. It requires a large room from which it can be viewed from all angles. However – it is often rather impractical – and yet this isn't such a great concern as it's often rarely used!
The 'mykitchen' is the opposite of the ‘ikitchen'. It blurs the lines between kitchen unit and furniture and is often less confined to one room as a consequence. It is more personal, has character and is designed for the home, evolving slowly with the changing needs of the family that own it. This is only possible through constant use: where does the toaster go? Which drawer are the teaspoons in? Where does the cheese grater live? Where do I find the kitchen scales? If you know the answer to these questions instinctively, then chances are you have a 'mykitchen'.
It's likely that most people fall into this category. The development of good value, well-designed, modular kitchens, such as those from IKEA, has allowed us to experiment, to add bits where needed and to make changes at relatively low cost. We can even alter the appearance of our kitchens with relative ease, with doors which can easily be replaced, shelves which can be quickly moved or swapped for baskets or drawers.
In this way, it is possible to design a kitchen that can achieve the best of both worlds - a beautiful, practical, and personal kitchen that takes its rightful place at the heart of the home.
Russell Curtis is a director at the award-winning architect's practice, RCKa.
www.rcka.co.uk
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