KITCHEN
There’s truth in the saying “the kitchen is the heart of the home”—but not for the modern home. In a modern home, family and friends don’t gather in the kitchen to feast on mama’s meatballs; instead, they gather to admire your financial investments, from gleaming stainless-steel professional-series appliances to shiny marble counters.
It’s here that you indulge in the comfort of unattainable culinary exploits and overwrought dinner parties populated by the most influential personalities you know. Clean lines and open shelving soothe, while the utilitarian simplicity of the devices lend authority to the room. Take a moment now and then to peer into a cupboard and sigh at the beauty of an expanse of pristine copper-core stainless pots and pans.
Geometry is the driving force of a properly planned kitchen. In the age of Whole Foods Markets and $30-a-pound truffled Gouda, it’s impossible to get by with a simple electric burner and a microwave. Instead, the kitchen must include a six-burner restaurant-grade cooktop for simmering sauces, a deli-style meat slicer for paper-thin prosciutto, and a bevy of electronics that all work toward brewing the most perfect thimble of Cuban espresso. As far as the layout of the room is concerned, follow the golden rule of three: When the chef is standing at the center island, visitors must be able to see at least three rare and expensive cooking devices.
Surfaces are best unsullied by organic matter such as food. Keep in mind that cooking doesn’t actually need to happen—it’s actually advisable that it doesn’t—but the design must imply that it could. You can warm up a stark kitchen with a small bowl of citrus or a glass vase holding a few spindly grasses. But before such decorative measures can be considered, it’s imperative that you create a strong foundation in the way of a purposeful layout. And, most important, expect to allocate all available funds to this area, whether for new construction or renovations.
The Kitchen Checklist
Here you’ll find the essential elements of a modern kitchen.
1. COUNTERS
Consider whether you will use the counter for food preparation. If your material of choice isn’t food safe, simply stop preparing meals at home. It’s worth it (and food packets are notoriously crude).
2. REFRIGERATOR
Although a large fridge is tempting for stashing away those farmers’ market finds, weigh the pros (storage capacity) against the cons (hulking size) and settle for a discreet under-counter mini fridge. It may be impossible to fit everything you need into the diminutive cooler; move produce and meats to an auxiliary basement fridge and stock this smaller one with rare unfiltered sake.
3. LIGHTING
An overhead fluorescent light offers more than enough illumination. Pendant lights above the island should be used sparingly to avoid interfering with sight lines.
4. PANTRY
What is this, the Depression?
5. COOKING APPLIANCES
Gas ranges only, preferably Viking. If you must have a microwave or toaster, keep it out of sight. Hide it behind a custom plywood panel at the farthest corner of the room. The oven hood should either be a premium stainless model, a curving armature hovering over the entire cook station, or a mechanized device that retreats into the cab-inetry when not in use.
6. COOKWARE
Although premium pots and pans should not be stored in view, they make a worthy investment for whipping up antipasti. Choose only the best brands: All-Clad saucepans and pasta pots, Le Creuset casseroles and Dutch ovens, Mauviel copper pans. Nonstick is not an option.
7. CABINETRY
In a truly modern kitchen, storage is always at a premium. However, aesthetics should never be compromised in favor of utility. Above-counter cabinets are shamefully conventional. If you can’t display your dinnerware on open shelving, it’s time to reevaluate your collection.
8. FLOORING
Present a poured concrete floor (refer to page 21 for colorways).
9. SINK + FAUCET
A pull-out faucet adds an air of industrial authenticity to the kitchen. Double sinks are pedestrian and should be avoided.
10. WORK ISLANDS
An essential anchoring element, there are three main configurations for a workable kitchen island. See Island Life for details.
Island Life
A center island acts as an anchor in the kitchen, serving myriad purposes for the home cook. Before you invest in installation, consider exactly how you’ll use it. Do you want to encourage guests to belly up to the bar while you man the range? If so, we recommend extending the countertop material over one edge to create space under which you can tuck stainless-steel Bertoia stools. If you (admirably) would rather discourage guests from encroaching on your personal space, forgo the counter bar in favor of thick stone or concrete wrapped over the blocky island and extending down two sides.
TYPES OF ISLANDS
ASSEMBLY LINE
A long, uninterrupted counter works well for those with counter space on either side of the island to hold the range and sink. When not in use, consider placing an interesting vessel on top of the counter and filling it with citrus for a pop of color in the otherwise monochromatic room. A large glass platter filled with clemen-tines or Meyer lemons offers maximum impact.
WATERING HOLE
For those with less space or who lack an arching culinary faucet, siting the sink in the island can give the structure an interesting, sculptural quality. Placement is key. Measure the expanse of the counter and then add a foot to the left or right (whichever frames the range and doesn’t intersect visually with cabinet hardware) of center. This slightly offset placement will keep the eye moving around the fixtures in the room and introduces a wabi-sabi element that makes for a great conversation starter.
COOKTOP
For particularly adventurous chefs, an under-mount range is a perfect way to show off an exceptionally expensive appliance. Consider how frequently you cook before choosing a corner in which to install the range. If you make more than two meals a week at home, be sure to give yourself at least six inches from the edge of the island to prevent passersby from knocking over boiling pots and suffering burns. Otherwise, the range can be placed at the very edge to give a sense of rhythm to the island.
PRACTICAL CONSIDERATION
The number of appliances should be inversely proportionate to the number of dinner guests. Plan parties accordingly.
Out of the Closet
Pantries are indisputably passé, even to modern homesteaders who make a great show of stocking their refrigerators and cabinets with exotic foodstuffs. However, there are some instances when the paltry open shelving above your stainless-steel counters proves inadequate. If you find yourself tucking things into the under-counter cabinets (to the point of an avalanche upon opening) we can allow two kinds of closets: slim and walk-in.
THE SLIM CLOSET
Two parallel panels that are joined at the middle with hinges so that they fold in half when open.
This is an ideal style for small spaces where a swinging door might hit an adjacent wall. Aesthetically, the bifold presents several dilemmas: First and foremost, how to execute without harkening back to the rickety wood-paneled models that buck along their metal tracking in suburban homes everywhere. Second, whether a door is even worthwhile in a space so cramped that it necessitates a bifold door. If you must use bifold doors, present them in an entirely new and modern fashion (made of brushed aluminum panels, for example).
THE WALK-IN CLOSET
A single panel that slides open, retracting into a built-in compartment in the wall.
Pocket doors were popular with Victorians, who liked to keep their rooms as compartmentalized as their emotions. A pocket easily closes off a closet without detracting from the interior architecture elsewhere in the kitchen. It is imperative that the interior of the closet be expertly designed, otherwise the opening will act as a portal into what you’d expect to find in another, messier, more mainstream home. Choose open shelving and specific foodstuffs (green glass bottles of sparkling water are good; diet drinks and cheese crackers are bad) that contribute to the overall aesthetic, if not your stomach.
Architecture should speak of its time and place, but yearn for timelessness.
FRANK GEHRY (1929– )
The first “starchitect,” Gehry was born to Jewish Polish immigrants in Canada. He changed his last name from Goldberg at the behest of his first wife. Now closely associated with his adopted hometown of Los Angeles, Gehry’s deconstructivist style has been criticized by many for existing as “functionless forms” (see Louis Sullivan, page 12) and generally having poor structural integrity. Famously, he designed a building by crumpling a piece of paper and calling it an architectural model in the documentary about his life and work directed by Sydney Pollack.
Notable Works: Cross Check armchair. Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao. Wiggle side chair.
Fork It Over
Danish is de rigueur in the kitchen, the bath, and (in a perfect world) the bedroom. Stelton, Danish manufacturer of carafes, lighting, and serving sets, offers several flatware collections that marry the hard edge of stainless steel with the soft inefficacy of a spork. Here are three excellent choices.
EM (1995)
Satin-polished steel set that was designed by Erik Magnussen, who studied at the Danish School of Arts and Crafts. The spoon is deceptively shallow, surely the designer’s comment on the human condition.
MAYA (1962)
Pleasing rounded edges with stumpy tines. More important, it is part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.
PRISME (1960)
A joint effort from silversmith Jørgen Dahlerup and designer Gert Holbeck. Chopstick-thin shafts give this set a delicious lightness in the hand.
Hot Plates
Such distinctive cutlery demands quiet china. We’ve chosen three collections that best balance their rigidity of form with the messy colors and textures of plated food. Unlike generic dinnerware from big-box stores, these unique plates and bowls require a financial commitment; a single Heath mug and saucer is $30. If you’d rather divert your savings to a six-burner range or a collection of obscure Austrian wine varietals, we’ve included an affordable four-piece melamine (plastic) setting. At an incredibly reasonable $60, it’s easy to invest in service for eight for less than $500 (but not necessarily advisable).
Massimo Vignelli’s streamlined HELLER collection
Made of melamine, it’s simple, lightweight, and designed to stack tightly together. A boon for those with storage issues. Bonus points for sighing and complaining how difficult it is to obtain the original Italian-made pieces from the mid-1960s, before American company Heller began to manufacture the line.
Eva Zeisel’s subtle GRANIT collection
Smooth white ceramic by the famous centenarian ceramicist. Bonus points for gently reminding guests that although the line of dishes was designed in the 1980s, it wasn’t manufactured until 2009 due to Zeisel’s exacting perfectionism.
Edith Heath’s vaguely organic COUPE line
Designed in 1948 by the woman behind Heath Ceramics, the Coupe collection has been in constant production since it was introduced. Bonus points for trekking out to the factory in Sausalito, California, to see the pieces fired and glazed in person.