The Frankfurt Kitchen, 1924Germany

a design solution for twentieth century living

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The Frankfurt KitchenFore-runner of modern fitted kitchenit realised for the first time a kitchen as we understand it at present times.Cooking space till then - in manors and mansions of the rich - was a separate building; humbler houses outdoor cooking19th century : the kitchen (as one may understand the area now) itself was used for laundering and bathing. Working class houses cooking, bathing, laundry and sometimes living room

By the nineteenth century, sculleries were used for laundry, and cooking took place in the kitchen

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The main areas of a kitchen Areas of storage

areas of food preparation

areas of cooking

areas of cleaning up

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Factors of modern kitchen design -1920sThe introduction of clean sources of power like gas and electricity gave rise to a whole new range of domestic appliances from gas cookers, to electric kettles, refrigerators and dish washers.

The application of science to design in the mid- nineteenth century, minimized the effort and time for the user. And that is where the topic of this chapter - The Frankfurt kitchen, a design solution for twentieth century living of 1924 - belong as one of the path-breaking designs.

Other factors of significance concern changes in social patterns, smaller families, changes in attitude towards health and hygiene.

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The trajectory:

Frederick Winslow Taylor had published his Principles of Scientific Management in 1911, in United states of America.he had devised a means of detailing a division of labor in time-and-motion studies. The time studies measured time of every action of production in man seconds. For example: screw on each bolt in 15.2 seconds. standardization of tools and implements and the use of time-saving devices, and study of task , etc. were to gain great importance in serial production. Taylor himself called these elements "merely the elements or details of the mechanisms of management" In 1915, American, Christine Fredericks Scientific Management in the Home was published in the United States of America; it became the best seller:

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The planning of efficient, pleasant kitchens had been the concern of the womens movement in Germany for some time since the 1910s The period of the post First World War, was allied to a rethinking of the role of house-wife within the home. The growth of interest in the concept of scientific management in the home was especially attractive as it afforded the role of housewife the prospect of acquiring status as well as professional connotations through its adoption.

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In 1915, American Christine Fredericks Scientific Management in the Home was published in the United States of America :In Germany, considerable impetus was given by the translation into German in 1922 of that book In the Scientific Management in the Home, considerable emphasis was placed on the kitchen. She argued for the removal from the kitchen of activities unrelated to the preparation of food in order that it could be made smaller and thus less wasteful in terms of movements around it.

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The prelude :Haus am Horn kitchen, Bauhaus Exhibition , 1923

Note the clarity of internal units. And commitment to standardization and economic mass production technology :in the fitted kitchen units, built in the Bauhaus cabinet-making workshops. in the earthenware containers seen above the cupboard in the glassware on the work surface which was manufactured by Schott & Gen.

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The Frankfurt kitchen : a design solution for twentieth century living. 1924

the planning of which was achieved by a team working under the Viennese architect-designer Greta Schtte-Lihotsky.

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The Frankfurt kitchen :Much more systematically conceived than the labour-saving kitchen of Haus am Horn seen at the 1923 Bauhaus Exhibition

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Viennese architect-designer Greta Schtte-Lihotsky.was an important pioneer in the analysis of the design of small apartments.

was called in by the Frankfurt City Architect Ernst May Greta Schtte-Lihotsky sought to bring about a fruitful collaboration between architects, housewives, and manufacturers to arrive at the most appropriate means of approaching house work.

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Because of the First World War many countries in Europe were plagued by a serious housing shortage. Various social housing projects were realised in the 1920s to increase the number of rental apartments.Greta Schtte-Lihotzky 's design of the kitchen thus had to solve the problem of how to build many kitchens, without allowing it to occupy too much of the total space of the apartment.

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"Firstly, it [life] is work, and secondly it is relaxing, company, pleasures." Margarethe Schtte-LihotzkyHer design departed from the then common kitchen-cum-living room. The typical worker's household lived in a two-room apartment, in which the kitchen served many functions at once: besides cooking, one dined, lived, bathed, and even slept there, while the second room was intended as the parlour. The parlour - from the French word denotes an "audience chamber" - often was reserved for special occasions such as a rare Sunday dinner. Instead, Schtte-Lihotzky's kitchen was a small separate room, connected to the living room by a sliding door; thus separating the functions of work (cooking, cleaning after food preparation, etc.) from those of living and relaxing, consistent with her view about life.

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Frankfurt Kitchen, 1924

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The resulting Frankfurt kitchen was a narrow double-file kitchen measuring 1.9m by 3.4m. The kitchen had a separate entrance in one of the short walls, opposite which was the window. Along the left side (as seen from the entrance), was the stoveThe stove was followed by a sliding door which connected the kitchen to the dining and living room. On the right wall were cabinets and the sink, in front of the window a workspace.

There was no refrigerator; but a foldable ironing board, visible in the image folded against the left wall.

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Frankfurt kitchen

from Designclassicsonly.blogspot

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The Frankfurt kitchen :The size and layout of the Frankfurt Kitchen was determined by time-and-motion studies

However, the aim was also to produce a pleasant, as well as efficient environment. To this end psychological considerations were also incorporated into the design, which took careful account of the use of colour the sizes of the window the opening into the adjoining family room.

Costs were kept low by the use of factory prefabrication, and different versions of the kitchen were incorporated into a range of new housing estates in 1920s Frankfurt

reflected the trends towards an increasing nationally instituted standardization of many household goods and kitchen equipment.

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Kitchen, mid 1920s- Germany

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Frigidaire KITCHEN OF TOMORROW , 1956

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Frigidaire Kitchen of Tomorrow, 1956 (continued)Part of General Motors since 1919, Frigidaire began to exhibit dream kitchens in 1956. Among many futuristic features seen here were an ultrasonic dishwasher, an IBM Electro-recipe file which automatically activated an ingredients dispenser, and rising storage cabinets. In the foreground is the cooking surface

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Frigidaire Kitchen of Tomorrow, 1956In the foreground is the cooking surface, a wipe clean marbleWork-top punctuated within-built heating elements, together with a Thermopane domed oven powered by quartz lamps. Behind the housewife in the picture is a Roto-storage system which could also be checked externally by trades people to facilitate automatic replenishment

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Contemporary IndiaModular Kitchens - India

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Aran Cucinehas presented its new collections at

Eurocucina 2008.MILAN DESIGN WEEK 08 , EXHIBITIONS ... searching for maximum functionality and compatibility. The models can be ordered with different finishes and in different colors.

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