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Jean Nouvel designs 'dazzling and lasting' kitchen for Reform

2021-09-01T08:54:00-04:00

Jean Nouvel has collaborated with Danish design company Reform on a new kitchen unit, the first designed by the Pritzker Prize-winning architect. Described as “tight and minimalist, yet characteristically dazzling and lasting,” the kitchen is defined by an understated, art deco design language. The kitchen is available in black or untreated metal, both featuring a monochrome design activated by diffuse reflections across their surface.

Image: Reform / Jean Nouvel

The kitchen is constructed of steel imbued with vertical ridges, finished in a high gloss, reflective surface. The countertops are available in stainless steel with gray and black Fenix laminate, complimenting and accentuating the unit’s reflectivity.

Image: Reform / Jean Nouvel

“Jean Nouvel and Reform occupy different ends of the design spectrum,” Reform said in a statement. “Where Jean Nouvel concerns himself with creating ‘visual landscapes’, Reform is dedicated to delivering extraordinary, yet accessible kitchen desig...

How COVID-19 and ghost kitchens are reshaping restaurants

2020-07-06T16:53:00-04:00

The ghost kitchen is an increasingly crowded space. In addition to Reef, there are Zuul and Kitchen United in the United States, Deliveroo in London and Paris, and Panda Selected in China. CloudKitchens, the new venture run by Travis Kalanick’s City Storage Systems, buys real estate, brings in kitchen facilities, and leases them to chefs and small-business owners, most of whom do not have other brick-and-mortar spaces.

Anna Wiener, a contributing writer to The New Yorker, surveys the landscape of delivery- and takeout-only "ghost kitchens" that have taken root in American cities following the COVID-19 pandemic by focusing in on kitchen pod start up company Reef Technology.

Ebony Magazine's psychedelic test kitchen to embark on nationwide tour

2019-05-22T20:02:00-04:00

After facing an uncertain fate in recent years following the bankruptcy of the Johnson Publishing Company and the sale of the firm’s historic Chicago headquarters, the psychedelic Ebony test kitchen, where the magazine’s iconic A Date with a Dish recipes were developed and tested, has found a home—At least for now.

The kitchen was acquired, documented and disassembled by the preservation group Landmarks Illinois in 2018 as part of an effort to save the space. The group issued a request for proposals earlier this year in search of a steward for the installation. This week. Landmark Illinois announced that following this process, the kitchen will now head to New York City’s Museum of Food and Drink, where it will be showcased as part of the traveling exhibition African/American: Making the Nation’s Table.

The eye-catching kitchen was designed by Palm Springs-based mid-century modern interior architects William Raiser and Arthur Elrod for the magazine as part of a larger interiors proj...

Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky invented the modern kitchen

2019-05-08T12:37:00-04:00

Following World War I, Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky (1897–2000) was tasked with the design of standard kitchens for a new housing project by city planner and architect Ernst May. The Great War left rubble and a desperate housing shortage in its wake, but it also opened the way for new ideas and new designs.

Prior to World War II, the only homes to have complete kitchen spaces also typically had servants to make use of them, while apartments and tenement housing rarely had space for a room purely dedicated to cooking. The kitchen, in other words, was a luxury before a plan to make it more standard and efficient was conceived by Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, the first Austrian women to qualify as an architect.

Plan of the Frankfurt Kitchen indicating its labor saving features. Drawn in 1927.

Schütte-Lihotzky's invention, known as the Frankfurt Kitchen, was compact enough to fit into apartment buildings and boasted ingenious features including, according to Sarah Archer, "an electric stove, a window over the sink, and lots of ingenious built-in storage including custom aluminum bins with a spout at one end." Its compact layout was determined by the typical cooking/cleaning sequences of the time, significantly reducing the time one spent in the space. Its efficient use of space not only made...

A key characteristic of the design is efficiency; Snøhetta's design for the French Laundry's new $10M kitchen

2017-02-20T00:39:00-05:00

The joint effort led to aesthetics that showcase a sleek, stylish yet minimalist concept...new digs are steeped in functionality...The improvements were the result of research...The ceilings are reminiscent of flowing table cloths, both for aesthetics and practical use, as they obscure equipment on the kitchen’s ceiling.

Justin Phillips goes inside the French Laundry’s new $10 million kitchen. The expansion/revamp/upgrade was a collaboration between Chef Thomas Keller and Snøhetta.