Editor's Letter – May 2022

Text by Simon Keane-Cowell
Zürich, Switzerland
27.05.22

Against the backdrop of a potential global food crisis, our Kitchen Design Week speakers discuss the future of the kitchen, both functionally and culturally. And, in the near future, our DAAily bar in Milan opens its doors.

'Everyone ends up in the kitchen at parties, goes the cliché, but what would happen if there weren’t one?'

As I write this, a sobering warning from the UN Secretary-General I heard on the radio this morning continues to nag me mentally.

The war in Ukraine – a country long dubbed 'Europe's breadbasket', thanks to its 42 million hectares of ultra-rich agricultural land that powers (or, rather, used to power) a thriving grain and fertiliser export industry – has resulted in a global food crisis that could last for years if left untackled. The conflict, combined with post-Covid supply issues and rising temperatures, threatens 'to tip tens of millions of people over the edge into food insecurity'. So says António Guterres.

Our DAAily bar at Milan Design Week will feature a Melting Ice Photograms Art Curtain from Swiss artist Douglas Mandry, new products from Stefan Diez and Barber Osgerby, and serve food, coffee and, of course, drinks

Those of us lucky enough to have full plates and stomachs, meanwhile, are only too aware of the sharply rising cost of comestibles, as inflation hits rates not seen in over 40 years. Food for thought, indeed.

Apt then, to chew the cud with a select number of architects and designers about the function, meaning and future of the kitchen – that most emotionally charged space within the home. As we are forced to address food sustainability, what about the sustainability of the kitchen as typology at all?

Note Design Studio's team shot (top: Cristiano Pigazzini back left, Daniel Heckscher back centre), and the team's café-like office space for Samsen (bottom). Photo: Joakim Johansson (bottom)

Everyone ends up in the kitchen at parties, goes the cliché, but what would happen if there weren’t one? 'The future of the kitchen is no kitchen,' says Note Design Studio founder Cristiano Pigazzini in his recent conversation with Architonic as part of our Kitchen Design Week. His colleague Daniel Heckscher, on the other hand, has long imagined the kitchen as a piece of furniture, bearing the patina of its everyday usage. Never fully fitted, and like an open-ended system, you take it with you when you move on.

Dries Otten and his A La Facon Francaise project's kitchen space (top, middle) and Studio Oink's Matthias Hiller and Lea Korzeczek (bottom). Photo: Dries Otten (middle)

For Antwerp-based interior architect and designer Dries Otten, a kitchen can be as simple as two trestles, topped with a piece of wood with a hole cut out for the sink. His experience of scenography design for exhibitions feeds (no pun intended) directly into his projects, with their playful storytelling and humble materials. 'We try to avoid everything that has to do with social status,' he explains, his kitchen designs in clear contradistinction to those ultra-high-end cooking spaces so often found in blog posts but where it’s clear that little, if any, food prep actually takes place. 'That’s not life' is how Studio Oink from Leipzig describe all that sleekness, that perfection. You can get their full insights here. And while you’re at it, why not listen to what Cristina Acha Odriozola of Acha Zaballa Arquitectos has to say on kitchens?

Stefan Diez and his Mudra chair (top, middle) will feature in the DAAily bar lounge area while Magis’ Alpina chair will accompany him and other speakers including its designer Barber Osgerby (bottom) on stage

Speaking of food, there’ll be plenty of the stuff available, plus coffee and something stronger, at our DAAily bar at Swiss Corner on the Via Palestro during Milan Design Week. We hope to see you there, not just for refreshment and the conviviality but also for the cultural inspiration. With installations from Swiss artist Douglas Mandry and Paris-based floral creative Anne Vitchen, plus never-seen-before new products from Barber Osgerby and Stefan Diez, not to mention a talks programme with some of the A&D world’s greatest and goodest, it promises to be an unmissable stop on your Milan tour. A presto!