Imagery from the exhibition, an explainationary video and more detail about the Moléculaire follows.

Design Lab 2009 finalist Nico Kläber took the marriage of science and cooking to a new level with his ‘Moléculaire’ concept submission. The Moléculaire is influenced by chefs that scientifically and painstakingly experiment with food and their states to surprise and provoke fresh ideas in cooking. The Moléculaire simplifies a process that currently requires great skill, time and knowledge by acting as a cnc-food-printer for both professional and domestic kitchens. It autonomously prepares basic and otherwise difficult to create two and three dimensional parts of meals. It works with a layer by layer printing process using small particles from diverse ingredients. The aim of the concept is to provide simplicity, accuracy, repeatability and, of course, great tasting food!

Eco-sense
Sustainability and green issues were a hot topic with a number of manufacturers taking a greener approach by addressing issues like sustainable materials, energy saving, carbon footprint and manufacturing practices.

Reveal and Conceal
A number of kitchens were based on concealment, with generous worktops alongside spacious tall units. Sliding fronts revealed kitchen appliances, shelving and well-planned storage options.

These kitchens had a sleek and subtle design allowing homeowners to reduce, or even eliminate, hanging wall units and handles, transforming the kitchen in to a refined extension of the living room. There was also a shift from a completely minimalistic design to softer aesthetics.

Living Spaces

Authenticity
The revival of authentic wood is still evident, and is cleverly combined with stainless steel, glass quartz, marble, Corian and laminate. The wood provides a premium feeling, being veined and either dark or very light. There were also a lot of rough structured surfaces providing authentic beauty.

Glass
Glass was also widely used on countertops, door fronts, drawers and shelves with etched, satin and silver mirror finishes and colored tints.

Colour
An abundance of whites, off-whites, brown/greys and dark brown tones were seen. There were also some vivid primary hues – the continued use of red and emerging mid-tones such as turquoise, acidic yellow, fuchsia and violet.

Light
White and colored LED lighting was used extensively: semi-visable on tabletops; under shelves; or hidden inside door fronts and drawers.

The Kitchen as the Heart of the Home
Today’s kitchen is a place for socializing, interacting, entertaining and cooking and plays a truly important role in modern homes. Many kitchen layouts shown at Eurocucina were based on a central working island combined with tall wall units and had a layout that allow the kitchen to be used in different ways. ]]> http://www.electroluxdesignlab.com/2010/06/electrolux-trend-review-milan-design-week-2010/feed/ 5 http://www.electroluxdesignlab.com/2010/05/integrated-kitchen-design-from-eurocucina-milan/ http://www.electroluxdesignlab.com/2010/05/integrated-kitchen-design-from-eurocucina-milan/#comments Fri, 21 May 2010 09:46:04 +0000 admin http://www.electroluxdesignlab.com/?p=1790 At Eurocucina (the kitchen fair held during Milan Design Week), Pernilla Johansson, Design Director at Electrolux, found prominent examples of integrated and stylish design. Here are some clever details that caught Pernilla’s eye.

Rational Kitchen Displayed at Eurocucina, Milan

Pernilla found “the proportion of this kitchen from Rational (a part of the Snaidero group) to be stunning. The thin dark stone surface, emphasized by the wider metal gap provides clearance to open the doors.  The tall stainless steel base is set in to give a feeling of lightness and further maximizes space. There is a certain delightful feeling to simply using the foot to push open and close this lower drawer, where you can store those items not frequently used.”

Snaidero (left) and Rational (right) Kitchen Design

Both Rational and Snaidero show a great sense of detail in the way they make sure the side of their kitchen units as beautiful as the front, with  materials and proportions seamlessly continued.

Sensual Kitchen Leg - Snaidero’s kitchen designed by Pininfarina

This very sensual leg detail is a part of Snaidero’s kitchen designed by Pininfarina. This light thin table with its curved open leg contrasts nicely with the more soild kitchen installation.

Imagine never having to use pans or pots again, never having to worry whether the ingredients are fresh or never having to look up a recipe in a cook book. Heart of the Home is a thought provoking vision of the kitchen of the future – an integrated solution functioning as a kitchen table, cooking surface and bar all in one.

‘Heart of the Home’ is an intelligent, amorphous, interchangeable cooking surface that adapts to user needs. When using the Heart of the Home one simply places one’s ingredients on the surface. The appliance then analyses the ingredients and presents a list of suitable recipes. After deciding on a recipe, the user marks an area with his hand to determine how large the cooking area should be. Then the desired depth of the surface is created by simply pressing the hand against the malleable material. After achieving the required width and depth it’s just a matter of setting temperature and time with a simple touch of a finger.

Heart of the Home background

2008 was the year when, for the first time in history, more people were living in cities than in rural areas. According to the UN, the number of people living in urban areas will increase to a staggering 74 percent in 2050. As a reference, a mere 29 percent lived in cities in 1950. Electrolux has developed the Heart of the Home as an illustration of how we will lead our lives in 2050 based on a number of assumptions:

Social needs are important: Just as today, social activities will be an important part of our lives, especially when it comes to socialising with your family and friends. The increased level of high-tech support in everyday life will also mean that we will want to experience true and real values

We need simplified homes: In the limited available space of future mega cities, homes will need to be flexible and able to adjust according to circumstances. The appliances of the future will need to be integrated and adjustable. We won’t have room for a whole host of products each with their own specific function.

Societies need to be more effective: When 74 percent of 9 billion people live in cities, we have to adapt our way of living to the resources we have. We need new ways of recycling our waste. Energy efficient products and buildings will be more important than ever before.

We won’t make it without technology: Technology is important today, but it will be a matter of survival in 2050. Technological advances are a prerequisite for us being able to have a sustainable development, environmentally as well as socially.

Heart of the Home was presented for the first time at DesignBoost in Stockholm February 12th 2010.

Henrik Otto, Senior Vice President of Design at Electrolux will present an exciting new kitchen concept Friday 12 Feb 2010. The event is held at the DesignBoost forum at Arkitekturmuseet in Sweden and Henrik Otto is joined in the “Space for Life” seminar by Ineke Hans, Karim Rashid, James Irvine and Ross Lovegrove (amongst others). The discussion will revolve around the role of design in realising the potential benefits of increasing global urbanisation.