The Frankfurt Kitchen(citylab.com)
citylab.com
The Frankfurt Kitchen
https://www.citylab.com/design/2019/05/modern-kitchen-history-design-ideas-domestic-architecture/586345/
7 comments
I don't mind a spacious kitchen as long as the space is well utilized.
For many families, the kitchen has all but replaced the living room. Where does everyone gather in the morning for quick sandwiches before they all go off to work or school? The large table in the middle of the kitchen. Where does everyone gather again in the evening to eat supper and/or discuss any common business? The same table. Where do the kids do their homework? The table. Where do the parents check their email? The table. Where do we stick all the checklists and important bills? The fridge. Where are my clothes? The washer-dryer combo right next to the kitchen.
There's no reason not to use the kitchen as the default gathering space since everyone (not just the housewife) is already there; a gathering is more fun when there's food and drink; and as you mentioned, the kitchen can actually look good these days.
Suburban houses waste a lot of space, sure, but the kitchen is far from the worst offender. If I were designing a new house, I might as well eliminate the living room and put a huge kitchen/dining area in the center instead, leaving only a small den to use as the home theater.
For many families, the kitchen has all but replaced the living room. Where does everyone gather in the morning for quick sandwiches before they all go off to work or school? The large table in the middle of the kitchen. Where does everyone gather again in the evening to eat supper and/or discuss any common business? The same table. Where do the kids do their homework? The table. Where do the parents check their email? The table. Where do we stick all the checklists and important bills? The fridge. Where are my clothes? The washer-dryer combo right next to the kitchen.
There's no reason not to use the kitchen as the default gathering space since everyone (not just the housewife) is already there; a gathering is more fun when there's food and drink; and as you mentioned, the kitchen can actually look good these days.
Suburban houses waste a lot of space, sure, but the kitchen is far from the worst offender. If I were designing a new house, I might as well eliminate the living room and put a huge kitchen/dining area in the center instead, leaving only a small den to use as the home theater.
The main problem I have with these integrated kitchens is once one piece starts to fail you end up replacing the whole thing or else making do until enough of it fails. It's like the distinction between an iMac and a traditional PC.
Not sure, how it should fail tho. I have seen integrated kitchens that are double my age and are still doing well.
If a door fails, getting a new one is not hard. Exchanging the work surface is usually totally doable. if some sink falls apart this is a bit more problematic, but also not a huge problem. Exchanging a fridge or a stove? Easy, as long as you don't buy the wrong size.
Of all the spaces I lived in the places that had the most broken kitchens, were always those where each element was seperatly movable, because having your stuff firmly mounted and reducing the places where liquid and dirt can go greatly improves the lifetime of the thing.
This is a European perspective tho, Americans might have different integrated kitchens, I am not that familiar with the differences there.
If a door fails, getting a new one is not hard. Exchanging the work surface is usually totally doable. if some sink falls apart this is a bit more problematic, but also not a huge problem. Exchanging a fridge or a stove? Easy, as long as you don't buy the wrong size.
Of all the spaces I lived in the places that had the most broken kitchens, were always those where each element was seperatly movable, because having your stuff firmly mounted and reducing the places where liquid and dirt can go greatly improves the lifetime of the thing.
This is a European perspective tho, Americans might have different integrated kitchens, I am not that familiar with the differences there.
Had the same reaction. I sent the article to my family and got a photo as a reply of my Frankfurt grandmother standing next to her Frankfurt kitchen. Integration and serviceability are not 100% opposed.
IMHO it's warped profit seeking that makes them seem like they are.
I usually interpret a "dream" kitchen like the one shown in the article as evidence that a person doesn't really like cooking. I just don't get how somebody can cook frequently and even semi-seriously and have the fridge, sink, and stove all two or three yards apart. I would think most people who dig cooking would take a Frankfurt kitchen with decent appliances over a huge, airy space with great appliances.
My current setup is like a galley kitchen except one wall is missing and opens onto the main living room, so I can prep or do dishes while talking to people. Maybe people more sensitive to cooking smells disagree, but I think kitchens are best when they aren't separate rooms.
My current setup is like a galley kitchen except one wall is missing and opens onto the main living room, so I can prep or do dishes while talking to people. Maybe people more sensitive to cooking smells disagree, but I think kitchens are best when they aren't separate rooms.
> I would think most people who dig cooking would take a Frankfurt kitchen with decent appliances over a huge, airy space with great appliances.
Not for me - I'm not a professional chef, but I love cooking, especially meals for family and friends. In doing that it usually means people congregate in the kitchen (which is fun), but would cause havoc if it were compact.
I'd love a kitchen like the "dream" one - a Wolf burner, double open fridge, island for prepping, and space for people to be there, rather than crammed off in a corner to make it slightly more efficient.
Diff'rent strokes I guess!
EDIT: also, the Frankfurt kitchen seems optimised for actually "cooking", over and above other kinds of food prep. I'd take a massive worksurface for mixing and forming, over being closer to the oven or sink.
Not for me - I'm not a professional chef, but I love cooking, especially meals for family and friends. In doing that it usually means people congregate in the kitchen (which is fun), but would cause havoc if it were compact.
I'd love a kitchen like the "dream" one - a Wolf burner, double open fridge, island for prepping, and space for people to be there, rather than crammed off in a corner to make it slightly more efficient.
Diff'rent strokes I guess!
EDIT: also, the Frankfurt kitchen seems optimised for actually "cooking", over and above other kinds of food prep. I'd take a massive worksurface for mixing and forming, over being closer to the oven or sink.
> I just don't get how somebody can cook frequently and even semi-seriously and have the fridge, sink, and stove all two or three yards apart.
It works for restaurant kitchens. In my own, definitely not "dream" kitchen, I find I would like more space so that my prep area isn't also my pre-wash staging area and my stove isn't coating everything I need to store around it with steam.
It works for restaurant kitchens. In my own, definitely not "dream" kitchen, I find I would like more space so that my prep area isn't also my pre-wash staging area and my stove isn't coating everything I need to store around it with steam.
Do people find that time spent in motion or moving between tasks is ever the determining factor of how quickly or effectively you can prepare a meal in the context of a home kitchen? Granted, I've rarely cooked for more than ~4 people, I've never stopped and thought "wow, if only the cupboard with x in it were a few feet closer to the stove, I could have cut three minutes off my prep work."
It's unclear to me how Taylorism could have been applied in a transformative way to kitchen layout.
It's unclear to me how Taylorism could have been applied in a transformative way to kitchen layout.
If you are a designer (or have the mindset of one) you can spend a significant amount of time thinking about this. Both my girlfriend and I are rooted in design and we were thinking 3 days about how to order things in the kitchen, where to put the sink, the stove, the fridge, preperation areas, cuttlery, garbage, etc. We drew out the routes and movements for common tasks on each variant and iterated through it, till we got a combination that seemed to be very efficient and didn't look too odd.
And it totally paid off. Investing a few days of thinking and planing to avoid something that might annoy you for years to come is totally worth it.
And it totally paid off. Investing a few days of thinking and planing to avoid something that might annoy you for years to come is totally worth it.
Have you ever been in an apartment where the fridge door opens "the wrong way"? ;)
I think when you're cooking for the two thousandth time and trying to prepare multiple recipes simultaneously & time them together, you start to have an interest in efficiency. I've definitely burned things because I took a minute or two longer than I had to spare working on another dish. The better the kitchen is laid out, the more simultaneous multithreads I can run before I miss an interrupt...
Part of the point of this article is also that the kitchen you take for granted, even one that isn't especially Taylorized, is still a sea change vs only a century ago.
Part of the point of this article is also that the kitchen you take for granted, even one that isn't especially Taylorized, is still a sea change vs only a century ago.
Reminds me of the 2003 Norwegian comedy Kitchen Stories
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitchen_Stories
> Swedish efficiency researchers come to Norway to study Norwegian men, in an effort to help optimize their use of their kitchens.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitchen_Stories
> Swedish efficiency researchers come to Norway to study Norwegian men, in an effort to help optimize their use of their kitchens.
previously discussed here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18013286
Great find. Since the OP is a new and interesting article, and Frankfurt kitchens (who had heard of them?) are not at high risk of being overcovered on HN, I think we'll not treat this post as a dupe.
Well done, agree with the decision, plus I don't mind a fresher discussion on Frankfurt kitchens.
Off-topic: I guess moderators learn about A LOT of stuff, simply by moderating. I guess that's a small perk for the job :)
Off-topic: I guess moderators learn about A LOT of stuff, simply by moderating. I guess that's a small perk for the job :)
You would think so, but it's more like this: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8123267. After a while, you're not really taking a lot in.
(That's not a complaint! there are other advantages and it's a learning experience in many ways.)
(That's not a complaint! there are other advantages and it's a learning experience in many ways.)
Nice :) Tomorrow, I am visiting a potential new home which has the original Frankfurt Kitchen architecture (not the original appliances), from the original architect (Ernst May). While the house is 90 years old, it has been well kept to the point that most people think it is quite new.
Why don't you post a few pictures here? I would be curious to see one.
You could even have your own!
https://www.1stdibs.com/furniture/storage-case-pieces/cupboa...
https://www.1stdibs.com/furniture/storage-case-pieces/cupboa...
Our kitchens have evolved with our foods. The 1950's taste for boiled whole vegetables and large roasts worked well in tiny kitchens. You didn't need much space for prep. The large and segmented cabinets organized everything out of sight because that made things look more clean.
Modern tastes require more prep space. More countertop for chopping vegetables. Enough room so you aren't slicing chicken breasts in the same area you are prepping the salad. Kitchens are also no longer the domain of the housewife. It is normal for multiple people to use a kitchen. So we need more space and better visibility. Cabinets have been replaced with shelves, or glass doors, because the person cooking is no longer always the person that does the shopping.
Stainless steel and better container tech means we are no longer ashamed of our kitchen utensils. We don't hide rusty pots or knives away in cabinets. We hang them proudly on hooks.