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https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2024/nov/12/damned-kitchen-inventor-fitted-frankfurt-margarete-schutte-lihotzky>
"On the sixth floor of a quiet residential street in central Vienna, a tiny
kitchen offers a masterclass in stylish functionalism. Every inch has been
designed for efficiency, yet the first impression is one of warmth and comfort.
The kitchen’s deep orange splashback and the dark green cabinets with red
interiors are all bathed in natural light, with sweeping views of the city
rooftops beyond.
This is the work of Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, the architect, activist and
resistance fighter who in 1926 designed the Frankfurt Kitchen – the prototype
for the modern fitted version now standard in the west. It introduced many
features we now take for granted: continuous countertops, built-in cabinets and
drawers optimised for storage, a tiled splashback – all designed as a
complementary whole.
In September, the Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky Centre, headquartered in the
architect’s apartment in the Viennese 5th district, concluded a painstaking
restoration of the kitchen, which is now open to the public. “It was an
exciting detective game,” says Renate Allmayer-Beck, the architect who oversaw
the restoration. She relied on two original plans as well as photos taken after
Schütte-Lihotzky’s death in 2000, and sourced products from across Europe.
Many elements in the kitchen, which Schütte-Lihotzky designed in the 1970s, are
lifted directly from her 1926 breakthrough – a foldaway ironing board on the
wall, pouring cups for dry goods in cubbyholes, room for a revolving stool
below the work surface, and shallow drawers that hide additional counter space.
But the Frankfurt Kitchen was about more than matching cabinets, sleek
countertops and handy gadgets. Designed as part of a public housing programme
in Frankfurt, it was the first mass-produced built-in kitchen, requiring great
technical expertise, as well as a forward-looking space that sought to free up
women’s time for a life beyond the slog of domesticity."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
