Between The Sink and The Stove: Alix Biehler

BETWEEN THE SINK AND THE STOVE The Evolution of the Kitchen as a Social and Domestic Stage

By Alix Biehler

HTS Essay First Year, Term 2 Tutor Lionel Eid

“The domestic space where food is prepared … primarily in indoor space, the place where people go to chop, mix, roast, boil, and bake1” – Carlisle and Nasardinov

Figure1: Alix Biehler – The miggration of the kitchen within the house.

The kitchen has for many centuries been the workshop of domestic labour and changed over the years to suit people’s lifestyles as they evolved. For example, the positioning of the kitchen in relation to the house has shifted from being separated from the centre to becoming the central hub of the home (Figure 1).

However, today’s kitchens have also acquired a new set of identities. According to Emily Contois the kitchen represents the combination Figure2: Sanitas Troesch AG, 2004 - The ideal model of the modern of a status symbol for the kitchen featuring the Island and it’s storage wall. middle class but also a place for future hopes and dreams, a site where gender roles are challenged, a social space and a performance theatre for entertainment and leisure2. Commonly referred to as the trophy kitchen3 , the modern kitchen (Figure 2) can be found at the centre of the home merged with the living space composed of an island and a carefully arranged wall at the back. While the main cooking functions takes place at the front on the island, the back wall takes the form of a background or a decor. It is therefore easy to make the interpretation that the kitchen is our social theatre. A stage where ideals are tested both physically through the carefully designed and metaphorically.

This article will focus on the performance aspect of today’s kitchen and through tracing the origins (Figure 3) of the island, a symbol of today’s modern kitchen but also the stage of this theatre, will attempt to understand how these new aspects of the kitchen have appeared and evolved.

Nancy Carlisle and Melinda Nasardinov, ‘America’s Kitchens’, (Tilbury House Publishers : 2008) Emily Contois, ‘Not just for cooking anymore : Exploring the 21st Century Trophy kitchen’, (Graduate Jornals of Food Studies: 2014) pp.1-8 3 The «Trophy Kitchen» is equipped with very expensive and sophisticated appliances which are used primarily to impress visitors and to project social status, rather than for actual cooking.

1 2

Figure3: Post-war Faucet Kitchen , Grim, isn’t it: the Fully automated kitchen, 1940 A self parody of the U.S. American Industry

Performance and architecture have a deep running bond. As soon as a wall is put up it frames a space, the body then moves within this space and further on interacting with furniture. Those elements restrict our circulation and movements nearly imposing us a route. The study of those movements and paths we take is the root of the performance. As soon as a movement is repeated, the same steps taken, patterns are created with a certain rhythm; and the rhythm gives life to the performance.

«the kitchen becomes the symbol of the homeowner’s status and identity.»

As a general understanding of this new phenomena and its importance it is crucial to first understand how society relates to the kitchen.

Pierre Bourdieu’s analysis of the individual within society and his theories of status, distinction and consumption4 are a first step. Consumption is the means through which a society can evolve and transform. It is also the means through which you can analyse and distinguish a social class as they have different consumption patterns. However, if you study the middle social class over many years, you will notice that their consumption patterns tend to resemble those of the higher social class. Now if you combine those observations to Veblen’s

concept of conspicuous consumption5, that stipulates that the lavish spending habits of the middle class confirm and perform their social position as well as feed their aspirational desires of the middle class, a cycle is created between social classes as well as within the same social class. Understanding this, what happens if the kitchen is the centre of this cycle? In that case, the kitchen becomes crucial to individuals as the kitchen becomes the symbol of the homeowner’s status and identity.

In Shove’s and Hand’s article, scholars of Lancaster (England) and Queen’s (Canada) Universities “Restless kitchen: possession, performance and renewal”6 that not only brings the analysis one step further but also brings evidence to the table by demonstrating that the kitchen is more than a status symbol it is also self expression for the owner and can physically fulfil one’s fantasies of life style and aspiration. In their article, Shove and Hand studied the kitchen consumption though a survey of thirty-five English households from different socioeconomic levels (Figure 4). From families living in a semi-detached houses (Figure 5) to young couples in terrace houses (Figure 6) and elderly people in town houses (Figure 7).

Pierre Bourdieu (French sociologist), ‘La distinction - A social critique of the judgment of taste ’, (Harvard University Press : 1979) 5 Thorstein Veblen, ‘The theory of the leisure class’ (Penn State Electronic Classics series : 2003) Accessed : 10/03/15 6 Elisabeth Shove and Martin Hand , ‘The restless kitchen : Possession, performance and renewal’, (Department of Sociology, Lancaster University : 2003) 4

Figure4: Profile of Respondents

Figure5: Semi-detached House Kitchen View and plan

Figure6: Terraced House Kitchen View and plan

Figure7: Town House Kitchen View and plan

Shove and Hand distinguishes three categories of missing possessions7, possession and performance in balance8 and deficient performance9 which allows them to create relationships between what people posses and how they perform within a time frame of the past, present and future. (Figure 8) Ultimately what the author is describing is a market with an equilibrium. (Figure 9) The equilibrium being the moment when the kitchen is satisfying both functionally but also in terms of its status symbol.

Like a supply and demand graph the curves fluctuate according to production factors on one hand and social trends on the other.

Constraints and limitations that prevent them doing things they deemed important All material wanted and used in to reproduce practices in accordance with ideals and aspirations.

9 All hardware needed but in dysfunction towards fulfilling the activities deemed important 7 8

A present practive B future practive 1 new or not yet acquired possessions required for imagined performance 2 possession and performance in balance, now and for the immediate future 3 new or not yet realised performance

Figure8: Possession, performance and modes of restlessness

Figure9: Market Equilibrium

Another understanding of this study which can lead to a possible speculation of what the kitchen could look like if the relationship between the possession and performance are mutually defined (which makes it a relationship) over time and a comparison from the point of view of the owner of looking back to what his kitchen was and then analysing what he has to then define what he wants according to his aspirations of education, lifestyle, etc.. Indeed, because possessions represent « social status », and he wants to be considered socially acceptable – which is defined by what he wants socially acceptable to be – although it is influenced by his surroundings. As the possession represent what he wants to be, and then the performance translates how he wants to do it. The choice of representation and translation here are specific and deliberate. For example, Kate wants a family of two and have dinner all together, therefore she wants a table – representation of a united family, the table within the centre of the kitchen then translates – though the performance – this united family.

The kitchen demonstrates a combination of fantasy and status.

This newly defined secondary function then takes all it’s meaning and reaches it’s high point when the MTV Channel showcases 50 cent’s10 house and kitchen (Figure 10). In the episode he features his never used/ highly equipped kitchen. The oven still has its cardboard boxes inside. It becomes clear that the granite counter top, the chrome handles and shinny appliances are only there for ultimate status display and are in complete disuse.

Figure10: 50 Cent’s one out of six Kitchens in his Connecticut(U.S.) House Film Stills of MTV Cribs Season 15 Episode 7 10

‘MTV Cribs gives peek into stars homes’ ABC News Online 10 April 2011. Accessed 17/02/15

However, the kitchen was initially never intended to become an object of disuse. In The early 20th century, in a society of industrialization the kitchen was part of an efficient home; intended for the use of the housewife and arranged for her specific activities. Early experiment where done in 1914 and 1930 to understand one’s movement in the kitchen. Diagrams where made to show the badly arranged equipment and then proposing alternatives (Figure 11 - 12). The concept of chains of steps for cleaning and preparing has been introduced to the home. A concept normally used for factories and labour mechanised work.

Figure11: ‘The New Housekeeping: Efficiency Studies in home management’, 1914 From badly arranged equipment to Efficient organisation and work flow

Figure12: Kitchen Planning brochure Preparation Work Flow

The home and therefore the kitchen are seen as production spaces, an extension of the factory. The worker comes back from work to execute another set of tasks. The mechanisation of the home – architecture as machine of living11 - is a new understanding of how to organise space and is highly advertised in countries such as Switzerland (Figure 13)

Figure13: Helene Haasbauer-Wallrath, Die Praktishe Kuche , 1930, The practical Kitchen (Right) Le corbusier, ‘Vers une architecture’, (G. Crès: 1924), p. 73

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Those Diagrams go one step further with the use of photography to document the different movements executed during domestic work (figure 14) This Concept then reused much later by Michael Mandel in 2008 (figure 15) as a metaphor of the kitchen as performance space. Indeed those diagrams and photographs all convey a same idea of motion studies through a visual representation of a repetitive work.

Figure14: Repetitive Work Process,1912 Documenting preperation as a Performance translating the movement into wire models (above)

Figure15: Michael Mandel , Emptying the Fridge, 1984 Documenting cooking as a Performance in order to make a metaphorical statement on the function of the kitchen today.

Figure16: The Frankfurt Kitchen, 1926

This new organisation of space is put in practice and theorised, in a way, by the first Austrian woman architect, Margaret Schutte-Lihotzsky.

With the Social housing project in Frankfurt by Ernst May, she develops a kitchen what will soon become known as the Frankfurt Kitchen (Figure 16) and a model of most kitchen for the next 50 years.

Schutte-Lihotzsky aim was to create a kitchen as appendix of the living room where all the domestic work could be done in one space. A small space, for the housewife, but efficient, that included all she needed. From the stove to the sink everything was there and in a specific order. She also introduced elements that had never existed before such as the garbage drawer or pull out board, all in the name of efficiency (Figure 17).

However, the Frankfurt Kitchen was not just efficient, it was ergonomical too.

What defines the sizes of our kitchens today through standardization of products, for example the standard height of a countertop is 91cm which is based on the average height of a woman, finds it’s source in the Frankfurt kitchen. For Margaret Schutte-Lihotzsky the height at which the countertop was situated mattered along with the arrangement of the storage and their height. The ergonomics later became a real study such as in a Cornell Magazine of 1952 (figure 18). Cornell University’s Housing Research centre with assistance from the United States Department of Agriculture made some research of text kitchens indented to alleviate the burden of labour and based on time-motion studies (figure 14 -15).

Figure17: The minimum Dwelling, Plan of the Frankfurt Kitchen Labour saving Features and organization

After The second world war the sizes and standardization of most appliances and build in kitchen where given a lot of thought. This new turn was mostly due to the construction boom and prefabrication, experienced in most European countries, but in order to simplify the cooperation between the planner, the architect and the builder. This general tendency in construction during the fifties and sixties therefore encouraged the development of the fitted kitchen. However this efficient system was linked to a loss of freedom, as the appliances could not be fitted or arranged according to one’s desire.

Figure18: Gardner Soule, New kitchen built to fit your wife, 1953, The Museum of Modern Art Alleviation of the burden of Labour

Companies such as Therma AG created a set of appliances that would be carefully designed so that they could be arranged in different ways and achieve variability but also simple replacement of defective appliance.

“In every configuration, Therma kitchens form a unity thanks to the formal harmony of their elements”12 Therma AG was, then, the largest manufacturing of electro-thermal home appliance company in Switzerland and developed systems such as the model A. (figure 19, 20,21, 22, 23)

Figure19: Therma Brochure , Cooker-Refrigerator-sink Combination, 1949, Elements of the fitted Kitchen

«harmony of their elements»

Figure20: Therma Prospectus, SINk Norm, 1958 - 55, 60, 90: Standard measurements becoming a national norm for all Swiss Kitchens (left) and The Modulor Man by Le Corbusier,1943 (right)

Christina Sonderegger,’Between Progress and Idling: The Standard Kitchen’ in The Kitchen ed, Klaus spechtenhauser, (Swiss Federal institute of Technology Zurich and Birhauser : 2006), p. 103 12

Figure21: (Above) Friederich Engesser, Therma one-front fitted kitchen, 1960, Formal Clarity as expression of a system philosophy Figure 22: Instalation and Basic measurements of a Therma Fitted Kitchen, Model A, 1960, “In every configuration, Therma kitchens form a unity�

Figure 23: Friederich Engesser, Therma Stand, MUBA( Basel trade Fair), 1960

Against all odds the kitchen is the centre of the home socially and structurally. The kitchen is a central part of the home concept13 and therefore has to be considered during the development of the floor plan. Moreover, the kitchen is not an arrangement that can be placed freely but is part of the building service and linked to the entire connection and network. The kitchen is, today, also a multi-functional space: it is a workspace and living space designed for one or multiple people. Individualism, the family, society and culture influence the importance of this space. Through rationalisation of the kitchen organisation in the means of standardization, which derives from Schutte-Lihotsky’s work, the kitchen is still today divided into the stock, the storage, the sink area, the preparation area and the cooking area14. By isolating the preparation area from the rest of the diagram we can notice and understand the evolution of the kitchen to adapt its self for the cooking space towards the living space. What is to be retained though the following observations are the preparation area is always, or nearly always, between the sink and the stove. This is what defines the preparation area and by extension the kitchen.

What happens between the sink and the stove? Six kitchen models emerged between the 1920’s and the 1990’s exploring the different arrangement of the preparation area within the kitchen such as the Gallery or corridor kitchen (figure 24) directly borrowed from the Frankfurt kitchen model with short work paths and a triangular circulation. A more linear version is the single wall version (figure 25) suitable for smaller homes. However the most well known is the L shaped (figure 26) derived from the single wall but inhabiting an angle, area usually avoided by architects. The U shaped kitchen (figure 27) is a upgrade of all of those stated above that then forms it’s self into a even more complex shape: the G shaped kitchen (figure 28). This is a turning point in the organisation of the kitchen. By creating the G shape kitchen a new condition has been created.

Figure24: Gallery or Corridor Kitchen Compact design solution

Figure 25: Single Wall Kitchen Linear work flow

Figure 26: L-Shaped Kitchen Functional and ergonomic arrangement

Figure 27: U-Shaped Kitchen Basic plan of luxury kitchen

Figure28: G-Shapped Kitchen Eating area inbeded to the the preperation area (All the above by Bruno Patti AG)

Brigitte Kesselring, ‘From Restrictive Norms to Greater Freedom’ in The Kitchen ed, Klaus spechtenhauser, (Swiss Federal institute of Technology Zurich and Birhauser : 2006), p.114 14 Ibid, p.117 13

Beyond the fact that the kitchen has by now opened its self up to the rest of the home, a new element has been added to the kitchen function.

The eating area, usually placed in the living space has been merged to the kitchen. Not only is it an eating area and therefore the living space inviting itself into kitchen, this eating area strangely reminds us of a public space element commonly referred to as the bar. (Figure 29,30) Aesthetically but also ergonomically, the bar has been introduced into our homes, into our kitchens. Those first signs of the entertainment stage are then confirmed by the studies and theories of kitchen engineer and specialist, Otl Aicher.

In the beginning of the 80’s Aicher approached the kitchen under a completely different angle. Under the German kitchen manufacture company Bulhaup’s commission, Aicher made a survey asking professionals and housewives how they experienced their kitchen in terms of the joy and satisfaction of cooking. The results appeared as the preparation area had its best interest in the middle.

Figure29: Meyer, Moser, Lanz Architekten, floor plan and view, Zurich Kitchen with open entry to the living room

Figure30: Entwurfsatlelier Kurt Greter, floor plan and view, Zurich Open Kitchen in attic apartment

The focal point of the kitchen becomes the table work, the kitchen island, where one can work in standing position and where multiple people could work at the same time and communicate in an equipped and ordered workspace. The preparation area, between the sink and the stove, is extruded from the main body and brought frontwards (figure 31).

Figure31: Bruno Patti AG, Island Kitchen, Dietlikon (Switzerland) The foundation of the Modern Kitchen

On one hand this promotion of the art of cooking introduced the language and appliances of the professional sector, which is now established as the new standards in the private sector and high-end housing. This also sets the aesthetic tone for furniture and materials in the kitchen such as stainless steal and high tech ventilation. On the other hand, the kitchen is no longer for one person traditionally the housewife but for multiple characters.

Those new inhabitations of the kitchen and its relationship with the living space lead to the question of storage. If your kitchen is to be seen by all, you wouldn’t want the pots and pans to wonder around but you would rather have your nice plates and wine glasses on display. A study, in the late 90’s conducted by the Institut fur Okotrophologie (Institute of Domestic Space) in Germany and ordered

by Julius Blum GmbH, documenting a household’s need of storage at the efficiency of the use of space. The study revealed that instead of using a maximum of cabinets as possible 55% more space can be gained via pullout with higher back and side walls (Figure 33 -34). Therefore a “storage planner” was developed which could define the individual space requirements in a number of trays, pullouts and drawers15. The study also introduced and a new set of measurements and standard heights according to our new style of using the kitchen. For example the upright position cooking position where one bends its arm at 90°; measure the distance from the floor, subtract 3 inches and the correct height is established.

All those elements and previous acquired knowledge lead to the concept of what we know as our modern kitchen.

The Dynamic Space Concept works under 5 main rules: the kitchen has to include sufficient storage space at the back, the plan has to arranged according to 5 zones (stock, storage, sink, preparation area and cooking) (Figure 35), doors should be avoided in lower cupboards (inefficient workflow) and the kitchen should be equipped with fully extendable pull outs (unrestricted access).

Figure32: Julius Blum GmbH, Dynamic Space, 2003(as all below) A kitchen planned and equipped in terms of kitchen zones saves time and 25 per cent of workflow

Figure33: A kitchen design that optimally conforms to the workflow saves time and energy divided according to five different zones.

Figure34: Full extension inner pull–outs make optimal use of space, provide easy access and a complete overview of content Ibid, p.121

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SO WHAT ?

The kitchen was defined by Carlisle and Nasardinov in ‘America’s Kitchen’ as the “domestic space where food is prepared … primary in indoor space, the place where people go to chop, mix, roast, boil, and bake”. However it is not. At least it no longer is. The kitchen has evolved way beyond the boundaries of domestic work. The kitchen became the trophy of the art of cuisine, an entertainment place for dinner parties.

The Kitchen is part of one’s social development as well as personal. It is the centre of the home and yet the stage of a changed society and never ending evolution of trends and movements. Designed in detail to fit our body expression, the kitchen is the theatre of our society. The island: the stage, each household member being a character and the storage and stock area: the décor. A décor that translates one’s social status and aspirations; a physical representation of one’s identity. It could be discussed that this wall at the back is what used to be the fire chimney. All the family pictures and ornaments have been transformed into plates, glasses and high-tech appliances. This analogy can then be taken even further by making the observation that today the kitchen might also be warmest place in the home and because of that becomes the social hub of the home.

However, one question is yet to be asked. Who is the public of the domestic theatre? Is it the sociologist that analyses the society though the kitchen? Is it the feminist that interrogates and challenges our habits using the kitchen as a prop? Is it simply the guests invited into homes either physically or through cameras that aspire to a better future? Or is it manufacturing companies such as IKEA that study the kitchen to create new concepts and possibilities according to our needs so that we will always feel comfortable in our kitchen, in our home?

Alix Biehler

Bibliography:

Leslie Mann, ‘What’s your kitchen Style? Ideas and tips to help create your dream kitchen’, Chicago Tribune Online, 20 May 2011 – Accessed Robin Murrell, ‘Small kitchens: Making every inch count’, (Simon and Shuster: 1986) Dale Southerton, ‘Cumsuming Kitchens: Taste, Context and Identity Formation’, (Journal of Consumer Culture:2001)pp. 179-203 Emily contois, ‘Not just for cooking anymore : Exploring the 21st Century Trophy kitchen’, (Graduate Jornals of Food Studies: 2014) Klaus spechtenhauser,‘The Kitchen’, (Swiss Federal institute of Technology Zurich and Birhauser: 2006) ‘MTV Cribs gives peek into stars homes’ ABC News Online 10 April 2011. Accessed 17/02/15 Elisabeth Shove and Martin Hand , ‘The restless kitchen : Possession, performance and renewal’, (Department of Sociology, Lancaster Univer Pierre Bourdieu (French sociologist), ‘La distinction - A social critique of the judgment of taste ’, (Harvard University Press : 1979) Thorstein Veblen, ‘The theory of the leisure class’ (Penn State Electronic Classics series : 2003) Accessed : 10/03/15 Susan E. Reid, ‘The Khrushchev Kitchen: Domesticating the Scientific-Technological Revolution’ in Journals of Contemporary History,Vol. 4 Europe, (Sage publication Ltd. : 2005) pp. 289-316 Dolores Hayden, ‘Review: Counter Space: Design and the Modern Kitchen’ in Journals of the society of Achitectural Historians, vol.70 no. 4, Philippa Goodall, ‘Design and Gender: where is the heart of the home?’ in Built environment vol. 16 no.4, Women and the Designed Environm Marta Vilar Rosales, ‘The domestic work of consumption: materiality, migration and homemaking, (Etnografica: 2010) Juliet Kinchin with Aidan O’Connar, ‘Design and the Modern Kitchen: Counter Space’, (the Museum of Modern Art, New York : 2011)

d: 08/03/2015

rsity : 2003)

40 No. 2, Domestic Dreamworlds: Notions of home in the post -1945

, ( University of California Press: 2011) pp.551-553 ment, (Alexandrine Pres: 1978), pp. 269-278

Image Bibliography: FIGURE 1 : Alix Biehler FIGURE 2 : Brigitte Kesselring, ‘From Restrictive Norms to Greater Freedom’ in The Kitchen ed, Klaus spechtenhauser, (Swiss Federal institute of Technology Zurich and Birhauser : 2006) FIGURE 3: Postwar Faucet Kitchen , Grim, isn’t it: the Fully automated kitchen, 1940, gta Archives/Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) FIGURE 4: Elisabeth Shove and Martin Hand , ‘The restless kitchen : Possession, performance and renewal’, (Department of Sociology, Lancaster University : 2003) FIGURE 6 : http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-49658846.html Accessed : 16/03/15 FIGURE 5 : http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-33676287.html Accessed : 16/03/15 FIGURE 7 : http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-33743565.html Accessed : 16/03/15 FIGURE 8: Elisabeth Shove and Martin Hand , ‘The restless kitchen : Possession, performance and renewal’, (Department of Sociology, Lancaster University : 2003) FIGURE 9: http://www.investopedia.com/university/economics/ economics3.asp Accessed: 16/03/15 FIGURE 10: http://www.mtv.com/shows/mtv_cribs/mtv-cribsseason-15-ep-7-50-cent-special/1574770/playlist/ Access: Only on US Territory - 13/03/15 FIGURE 11: Christine Frederick, ‘The New Housekeeping: Efficiency Studies in home management’, 1914, The Library of the Museum of Modorn Art FIGURE 12: Kitchen Planning brochure of the U.S. Company Kitchen Maid, Preperation, 1930, gta Archives/Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) FIGURE 13: Helene Haasbauer-Wallrath, Die Praktishe Kuche , 1930, Gewerbemuseum, Basel , Switzerland FIGURE 14: Lilian M. and Frank B. Gilberth, Repetive Work Process,1912, Sammlungen der Universitat Fur andewandte Kunst Wien, Schutte-Lihotzky Archive FIGURE 15: Michael Mandel , Emptying the Fridge, 1984, The Family of Man Fund FIGURE 16: Margarete Schutte-Lihotzky , Frankfurt Kitchen, 1926, Das New Frankfurt n°5 FIGURE 17: Karl Teige, The minimum Dwelling, 1932, Nejemsi BYT FIGURE 18: Gardner Soule, New kitchen built to fit your wife, 1953, The Museum of Modern Art FIGURE 19: Therma Brochure , Cooker-Refrigerator-sink Combination, 1949, Christina Sonderegger private archives, Munich FIGURE 21: Friederich Engesser, Therma one-front fitted kitchen, 1960, Christina Sonderegger private archives, Munich FIGURE 20: Therma Prospectus, SINk Norm, 1958, Christina Sonderegger private archives, Munich FIGURE 21: Friederich Engesser, Therma one-front fitted kitchen, 1960, Christina Sonderegger private archives, Munich FIGURE 22: Instalation and Basic measurements of a Therma Fitted Kitchen, Model A, 1960, Christina Sonderegger private archives, Munich FIGURE 23 : Friederich Engesser, Therma Stand, MUBA( Basel trade Fair), 1960, Christina Sonderegger private archives, Munich FIGURE 24 - 28: Bruno Patti AG, Dietlikon (Switzerland) FIGURE 29: Meyer, Moser, Lanz Architekten, floor plan and view, Zurich FIGURE 30: Entwurfsatlelier Kurt Greter, floor plan and view, Zurich FIGURE 31: Bruno Patti AG, Dietlikon (Switzerland) FIGURE 32 - 34: Julius Blum GmbH, Dynamic Space, 2003, Hochst (Austria)