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june 20 – JULY 3, 2014
HOME & DECOR
TheEpochTimes Courtesy of Atelier M+A
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By Ng Ai Hwa
K
itchens were once used solely for cooking, but they are now also used for living. While this is not a ground-breaking concept, it could be relatively new to many homes in Asia where kitchens had been traditionally created as utilitarian spaces to handle choking fumes and chaotic food preparation. Nowadays the kitchens are changing, at least so on our island. It has been almost certain when home owners approach us they request for an overhaul of their kitchens, usually fully enclosed, stifling and often dim. The transformation happens when the kitchens are opened up to combine with other spaces and serve as multiple functions.
The Kitchen Is a Metaphor
The historical purpose of dinner was never just about eating together, but more about connecting through conversation and eating. Most of the home owners we worked with had either little knowledge in food preparation or were not enthusiastic in cooking, less so in preparing meals on a daily basis. Yet interestingly they requested for special attention to the kitchen designs to ensure provision of a ‘proper’ kitchen equipped with modern electrical appliances. Consciously or subconsciously,
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The Kitchen is the
New Living Room In this project, the kitchen no longer served as just a space for food preparation; it was also where entertainment took place.
three generations under one roof. The brief had a specific request to provide visual connection, good lighting and generous space for the kitchen and dining space. This is because the family spent most of their time conversing with each other in the kitchen and during meals than when they were in the living room. We designed the kitchen to directly face the dining space. Though separated with an island counter, visual and verbal com-
munication was facilitated with sliding glass panels. The kitchen became well used by the grandmother for preparing daily food, the mother and daughters for baking cakes together, and the dining space for family dinners and social gatherings (refer to Photo 1).
Kitchen as Communal Space
The kitchen and dining are commonly used by young children working on their homework. It is interesting to note Courtesy of Atelier M+A
Food as an Experience and Event
one desires having a kitchen regardless of usage frequency and level of cooking skills. This is because psychologically having a kitchen in a home is nourishing in itself, as it denotes home and hearth. It primarily brings a sense of security and connects one to his livelihood.
With the current trend where food, celebrity chefs, and star restaurants are celebrated by our mass media, food becomes not only an obsession but also an alternate form of art. The ritual of dining, the design of meals, and the process of cooking all form a distinctively expressive experience, and more so a sensuous one with designated lighting, interior decorations, furniture, the entertainment of music, and so on.
Preparing and Sharing Food Is the Communication
We have undertaken many projects when the kitchens overtake the living as the main space for the households. One of the projects we heart is for a family with
that even if children have their own study area and desks, they are often drawn to this family space for a sense of togetherness with the mother. One of the mothers whom we worked with requested for a study area to be visible from the kitchen so that she could attend to them during study times. We located the study space to be right beside the kitchen, separated by an island counter which allowed a visual link between the two spaces. We also designed the study to accommodate a workspace for the father. Even though the unit was equipped with a proper dining space, the island counter and the study area became the frequent lingering spot for the family, where the mother and her sons would enjoy snacks and tea during study breaks (refer to Photo 2 and 3).
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