slow kitchen by Alice Kohler

the slow kitchen PROCESS FROM THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK TO FINISHED DESIGN

THE SLOW KITCHEN PROJECT INVESTIGATES BOTH NOMADIC AND STATIONARY SPACES, TEMPORARILY TRANSFORMED FROM ONE STATE OF BEING INTO ANOTHER. IT INVESTIGATES BOTH THE DESIGN PRACTICE AND THINKING TAKING PLACE WITHIN THAT TRANSFORMATION. THAT TRANSFORMATION OFTEN BEING ONE OF AN EXTERIOR SPACE, TO THAT OF A REAL, SYMBOLIC OR EPHEMERAL INTERIOR THE INVESTIGATION IS INFORMED AND UNDERPINNED BY THE ETHOS AND PRINCIPLES OF THE SLOW MOVEMENT, THEREFORE A STRICT SET OF RULES AND GUIDELINES MUST BE ADHERED TO WITHIN THE DESIGN PROCESS, EXPERIMENTATION, MATERIALITY AND USE OF ANY OF ITS OUTCOMES.

slow: a manifesto

In 1986 a group of inspired le� wing gastronomes in the li�le Piedmontese township of Bra, began the Slow Food movement in order to protect our right to enjoy good food as opposed to that which modern society wishes to force upon us. The slow food manifesto is devoted to the cri�cism of the speed of our soulless world of heavy machines and industry, se�ng up a philosophy of life against contemporary models, aiming to encourage people to return to slower lifestyles based around good food and pleasant company. Slow food represents an act of rebellion against a civilisa�on based on the sterile concepts of produc�vity, quan�ty and mass consump�on, destroying habits, tradi�ons and ways of life, and ul�mately the environment. In opposi�on to fast food, the Slow Food movement encourages the enjoyment of regional, organically and sustainably grown produce. The slow movement as a whole, aims to educate people and encourage them to live more simply (or more slowly)as opposed to our general percep�on that “more is be�er” and our pursuit of wealth and

consump�on. Conserva�on, sustainability and the preserva�on and support of tradi�onal ways of life are some of the movement’s core values. The movement seeks to provide an alterna�ve to a society in which we seemingly have no �me for the things that we actually enjoy doing, and thus, bringing us back into step with the natural rhythm of both our-selves and our environment. Slow design takes on all these values with par�cular importance being placed on the use of local or regional materials, the act of hand-making, suppor�ng local industry and cra�s people and considera�on of regional culture as both a source of inspira�on and an important considera�on for the design outcome. To live within the framework of the Slow philosophy could be described as a lifestyle that is voluntarily simple. Or perhaps as a manner of living that is outwardly more simple and inwardly more rich, a way of being in which our most authen�c and alive self is brought into direct and conscious contact with living. Simple living as a concept is dis�nguished from those living in forced poverty, as it is a voluntary lifestyle choice.

Upon the comple�on of my second year as a design student at RMIT in 2003, I was oﬀered the opportunity to re-design a Fitzroy landmark, The World Wide Wash.

wwwwash project CREPERIE, LAUNDROMAT AND INTERNET CAFE BRUNSWICK STREET FITZROY

The World Wide Wash had been trading as an internet cafe and laundromat for 3 years, and previously as solely a laundromat since the mid 70s. The original World Wide Wash was a somewhat run-down Laundromat and basic internet cafe, with Gothic apparel and accessories for sale and on display in the front window. The proprietors of the business wished to update the image of their business, making it more open, welcoming and introducing crepes and coﬀee into the mix of the already established internet cafe and laundry. The redevelopment of the WWWash site was challenged from the beginning with a very minimal budget a�er the expensive discovery of an asbestos coa�ng on the original ceiling which cost precious �me and money. The budget le� for any renova�on was less than $10 000 and proposed �meframe for both design and construc�on was 6 weeks.

World Wide Wash front facade

In order to work within the constraints of both �me and budget, any construc�on needed to be rela�vely simple, using a minimum of materials and labour. All the joinery and furniture was built from 12 and 15mm structural plywood. The styling of the new WWWash was to be modern, minimal and organic, yet unpreten�ous and comfortable, opening up the front of the space to poten�al customers. The crepe hotplates located in the front window of the building aim to a�ract a�en�on from passers-by and promote the new side of the business.

wwwwash project 3

b c

1 2 3 4 5

Counter detail and shelving unit Stools and outdoor furniture Entrance and street barrier Indoor furniture and wall mural Communal table and blackboard

a b c d e f

Cast iron crepe hotplates Stainless steel bench fridge Espresso machine Drinks fridge Till Dish washer

World W orld Wide Wash ďŹ&#x201A;oor plan

picnic in the park TEMPORARILY INHABITED SPACE BECOMES EPHEMERAL INTERIOR

The term “picnic” originally referred to a dinner, usually eaten indoors to which everyone present had contributed some food and possibly also a fee to a�end. The term changed in meaning in around the 1860s from “everyone bringing some food” to “everyone ea�ng outdoors”.1 The picnic that we see today is o�en makeshi� and informal in nature. The space inhabited (or the ephemeral interior) is temporary. Once people gather, a blanket is laid, and food spread upon that blanket, crea�ng what may be described as a type of symbolic interior space. As Bachelard states in his Poe�cs of Space, “Inhabited space transcends geometrical space”.2 In this example, the inhabited space just happens to be outside. It is the inhabita�on of this space, its symbolic interiority and

Plan: The Symbolic, Ephemeral Interior

the rela�onship between the picnickers, the food and the blanket that is important in this example. In his book Walkscapes, Francesco Careri looks at “permanent built space as well as the idea of the symbolic construc�on of space”3 as we see here in the context of a picnic. He even goes so far as to describe streets roads and pathways as places in their own right, not just conduits between places. He sees the validity in spaces deﬁned by things other than formal walls and boundaries and how these spaces come and go with habita�on and deser�on.

Picnic in Edinburgh Gardens, Fitzroy, June 2008

A bar was set up in the library, near the entrance to the office. The kitchen was arranged on the balcony, complete with a tarpaulin affixed to the concrete structure of the building. The space of the office had changed in nature completely. The usual layout of the office was changed from rows of desks, to a large rectangle of desks, effec�vely cordoning off the central workings of the office and providing a clear thoroughfare for guests. This layout ensured that firstly, the safety of office property and secondly, access to exits, toilets and the outdoor balcony were clear. The space within the office changed from a hive of frene�c work related ac�vity to a casual social environment. It could be stated that the space was transformed, for a brief period in �me, from a fast space, concerned with commerce, produc�vity and strict deadlines to a slow space in order to encourage a relaxed atmosphere and social interac�on. The makeshi� outdoor kitchen

outdoor kitchen wc

line of outdoor balcony

SPATIAL CHANGE FROM WORKING OFFICE TO SPACE FOR CELEBRATION

The Architectural oﬃce of Bruce Allen and Rebecca Naugh�n was temporarily re-arranged and set up in order to cater for ﬁ�y guests.

line of outdoor balcony

food for architects

entry/exit

library

Floor plan of oﬃce as normal workspace.

entry/exit

Floor plan of oﬃce as normal workspace.

bar

fundraiser dinner

dining room

FROM STUDENT SHARE HOUSE TO CONVIVIAL GATHERING SPACE Organising a social event such as a dinner party is according to Margret Visser, “Not for the novice”, and extremely hard to carry off. She states that “If you are the host, your house is on view, your food (offered as the result of your best efforts) is open to judgement; your taste, your social connec�ons, your ability to manage are all poten�ally “on the line”.5 This par�cular dinner party aimed firstly to create community within a group of design students and their lecturers. Secondly, it aimed to raise money for the end of year exhibi�on. A run-down warehouse space in East Brunswick, not usually u�lised as a dining room, was transformed into what essen�ally resembled a banquet or dining hall as one would imagine in 19th century Britain or perhaps even ancient Rome. Tables, chairs cutlery, crockery and glassware were bought and

borrowed for the occasion. As the space its self was not par�cularly aesthe�cally appealing, it was decided that the long row of tables should be lit by a mul�tude of candles. The idea, being to draw ones a�en�on to the table, rather than the condi�on of the building, and to provide a forgiving light by which to dine. Candle light in this instance also transformed the space from that of a vast cavernous one to a seemingly smaller more in�mate se�ng.

exit via stairs

kitchen

The gathering of like minds in the convivial se�ng of a dinner party, as opposed to the rigours of academic study, create a sense of camaraderie and team spirit. In doing this, one also sees fellow students and academics outside of their usual capacity and in a much more relaxed or Slow state of mind. Floor plan of warehouse dinner party space

Dinner party in progress

breakfast for fitzroy’s homeless SPATIAL INTERVENTION AND SOCIAL COMMENTARY

In May 2007, with the co-opera�on of St Mary’s House of Welcome, I organised and performed a Slow Breakfast for Fitzroy’s homeless popula�on, on the footpath of Brunswick Street outside St Mary’s. This event was aimed at temporarily altering the streetscape spa�ally, in order to show commuters and pedestrians on their way to work that there were s�ll people living in Fitzroy in condi�ons contras�ng starkly to that of their own.

Careri’s analogy of an architectural take on the story of Cane and Abel is apt in these par�cular set of circumstances. He looks ﬁrstly at Cain and Abel from an etymological perspec�ve. “Cain, in ancient Hebrew, meaning: to acquire, get or own property, to rule and subjugate. Abel on the other hand meaning: breath, vapour or represen�ng the transient.”6

A�er analysing the documentary footage of the street breakfast, I made a connec�on in reference to that of the biblical parable of Cain and Abel as touched upon by the wri�ngs of Francesco Careri.

Careri sees the brothers Cain and Abel represen�ng humanity divided into two great families, each brother being a metaphor for a diﬀerent spa�al experience. Cain, for instance, represen�ng that of those whom excavate space from the body of the earth, in our case, a representa�on of capitalist consumer (or fast) society. And that of his brother, Abel, represen�ng that of the cave or tent that moves nomadically across the earth’s surface without any las�ng trace.7 In this case however, the homeless of St Mary’s.

These two ways of inhabi�ng the earth correspond to Careri’s two concepts of architecture its self. An architecture seen as physical construc�on of space and form as opposed to an architecture seen as a percep�on and symbolic construc�on of space. The symbolic construc�on of space being that of our detourned al-fresco café, come last supper style street se�ng, outside a refuge for the homeless. The ﬂipside of this being architecture born from necessity or “a space for staying” as opposed to nomadism’s “a space for going.”

ride on dinner

EXPLORING POSSIBILITIES BETWEEN TRANSPORT, FOOD AND CULTURAL CHANGE

In my inves�ga�on into the bicycle as a means for spa�al change and occupa�on I met Mick Douglas, Director of the Cultural Transports Collec�ve. The Cultural Transports Collec�ve is a group that explores correla�ons between transporta�on and cultural change through a public progressive dinner on bicycles throughout the city called the “Ride on Dinner”. The Ride on Dinner is an event-based arts project that takes place in public spaces. Each event typically involves a team of ﬁve hos�ng ar�sts, up to one-hundred audience/ par�cipants with their own bicycles. The hos�ng ar�sts take a bicycle led kitchen to a range of loca�ons within the city crea�ng a three-course progressive meal from local, organic produce . I was fortunate enough in this case to be invited to be one of the ar�sts of the collec�ve hos�ng the event given my interest in food, design and alterna�ve transport and energy. Over the last three years the collec�ve has been experimen�ng with various bicycle based vehicles and trailers. Before the last Ride on Dinner various trailer ideas were trialled in order to see what is most suitable for carrying and cooking for up to 100 people.

The ride-on-dinner explores the affects of mobile hospitality amongst a diverse range of individuals, whilst feeling the way toward sustainable food and transport systems. It aims to create new opportuni�es for urban inhabita�on. Diners become co-creators in a chance-filled event riding rela�onships between individual human body, a temporarily collected social body and the body of the city. In becoming part of the Cultural Transports Collec�ve and being involved in organising such an event as the Ride on Dinner, I had the opportunity first hand to see how spa�al change and spa�al occupa�on was possible with both food and a large group of bicycles. In the lead up to the event many varied bicycle trailer/kitchen ideas were trialled, giving me a be�er understanding of how a bicycle kitchen may func�on, and what its possibili�es are.

the cultured palette A SOCIAL APPARATUS FOR THE GALLERY SET

The Cultured Pale�e is a social commentary on the culture on those that inhabit a gallery space upon the evening of a show opening. O�en, a gathering at an art gallery is as much about being seen and socialising at the event as it is actually viewing the art work on display. At such an event there is o�en both food and wine. One must be able to hold and drink a glass of wine, eat a canapé and look glamorous while a�emp�ng to socialise. In order to facilitate this seemingly impossible mul�-tasking role, the pale�e, held in the le� hand, holds a canapé and a glass of wine, at the ready for inconspicuous consump�on.

The pale�e becomes a vehicle for which both the food and wine become portable. The mechanics of the pale�e are quite simple. The horizontal opening in the pale�e’s side houses a wine glass and has a recess at its end in order for the glasses base to drop into. On the face of the pale�e a canal is cut for the stem of the glass to come through. This canal in the face of the pale�e prevents any movement of the glass whilst it is in dock.

1 2 3

The pale�e with wine glass and ramekin ﬁ�ed. Suc�on cup to secure seated canape ramekin. Wine glass dock detail.

The canapé ramekin is temporarily held via a suc�on cup on a plywood spring. The suc�on cup holds the ramekin �ghtly in place within its circular enclosure using the pressure generated by the spring.

the cob oven Heat radiates both to the centre of the oven and around its radius

Plan: Interior Space creted by cob oven

In contrast to the picnic in the park, the feeding of architects within their office, or organising a dinner party in a warehouse space, the cob oven is a permanent fixture for use over many years to come. The cob oven was constructed over four days, beginning with a bagged sand/clay base. On top of the base, heat resistant bricks were laid and cemented in. Once the base layer is set, a sand mound forms the mould around which the first layer of a sand/aggregate and clay mix is formed. This is then covered with a clay/straw (cob) mix to act as a strong and insula�ng outer shell. The oven then dries naturally for up to three weeks un�l it is ready for use. Building such a structure takes �me. It also takes some considerable prac�ce to get the oven to burn at the right temperature in order to cook with it.

From the �me the oven is ﬁrst lit, it is ready for cooking in about 4-6 hours. A slow method of cooking indeed. The oven is extremely cheap to build. It also burns at a high temperature, therefore creates li�le pollu�on. As the walls of the oven are 30 cm thick and have excellent insula�ng proper�es, the heat from the oven may last up to 24 hrs. Building the cob oven is seen as an act of inves�ga�ng and prac�cing slow building, slow cooking methods and creating a Slow space. It acts as the central hearth, around which people gather for warmth and to cook and eat. As it takes �me for the oven to operate, people gathered to eat are faced with only each other, the oven and their surrounds. This, in part, assists in crea�ng a sense of community and purpose and an opportunity for social interac�on.

the shaker seat

The Shakers believed firstly, any structure or furniture made was to be for the common good of the community. Secondly they believed that nothing in their construc�ons was to be hidden, as their god could see it even if it was not plainly viewable. In the design of this piece of Shaker style furniture, I have simply extruded a Shaker chair horizontally, in order to seat two or three, rather than just one in the case of a chair. This effec�vely builds into the object another layer of it’s already over riding philosophy, giving it quali�es of communal space as opposed to solitary space. This piece of furniture serves its purpose as firstly a methodology or ethos (that fits within the parameters of Slow) to abide by when construc�ng a space or object. Secondly it stands as a demonstra�on of cra� in prac�ce.

In my inves�ga�on into Slow methods of building and construc�on, I have chosen to take part in designing and construc�ng furniture directly borrowing in both from and building method, from the work of the Shakers of the early 18th century America. The Shakers were a religious sect, choosing to live separately to the rest of society and in doing so, becoming completely self suﬃcient and highly skilled as cra�speople. In the context of furniture design, their beliefs were simple. They rejected un-necessary ornamenta�on and with skilled cra�smanship applied the essen�als of pure func�on and form. The furniture produced by the Shakers was not the result of a studied approach to design or a conscious eﬀort to create masterpieces, but rather expressions of u�lity, simplicity and perfec�on a�ributable to their spiritual inspira�on and dedica�on

to cra� and skill. In taking part in construc�on of such a piece of furniture without the aid of modern power tools, it soon became obvious how skilled these people were. All the �mber for the seat has been hand cut, augured, gouged, planed and sanded. Holes for both the legs and back support of the seat are hand augured with a tapered bit in an old fashioned brace and bit drill. Although the structure is made sound with the use of tapered holes, dowel and wedges, glue made from boiled swim bladders from ﬁsh gives the seat extra strength. Once sanded smooth, the seat is ﬁnished with layer upon layer of linseed oil.

hook shelf SIMPLE CORNER SHELF BASED ON SLOW THEORY The hook shelf is a simple above bed corner shelf inspired by both Slow theory and a small Lexon �pping alarm clock. The shelf measures 1000mm x 800mm and is ﬁnished in Japan black to contrast white walls. The hook shelf was inspired by the theory and ideas behind the philosophy of the Slow movement, par�cularly that of our strict rela�onship with �me and our modern tendency to follow the temporal pa�ern of wake, eat, work, and sleep. The Slow movement a�empts to counter this rela�onship with �me and to bring us back into more natural temporal rhythms. Our modern way of living assumes faster is be�er. Speed is the new king with our lives measured in bits and bytes, and dissected into micro-detail.

We are not designed operate in such a way and to do so has proven detrimental to health, performance, rela�onships and our general wellbeing. Life is meant to be a series of sprints interspersed with periods of rest and recovery. Our culture has condi�oned us to think that slow is the enemy of achievement, yet as the Slow Movement is showing us, nothing could be further from the truth.

The simple analogy drawn in the example of the hook shelf is, that upon waking, the alarm clock is �pped (to stop the alarm), thus forming the barb on the fish hook. We are then seemingly trapped in the constant cycle of wake, eat, work, and sleep, like a fish being reeled in on a fish hook...

1 2 3 4

3D computer image of hook shelf Shelf underside Side/rear eleva�on Front eleva�on

concept sketches INITIAL DESIGN SKETCHES ANALYSING STRUCTURAL AND SPATIAL REQUIREMENTS

cad sketches and modelling REFININIG AND COMPLETING 2 & 3D TRAILER MODELS BEFORE PRODUCTION

production

BUILDING THE SLOW KITCHEN: CAD ROUTING AND HAND MAKING

location/site

C.E.R.E.S. ORGANIC MARKET GARDEN PLOT

Ward St

Edna Gr CERES Organic Food Crop

Harding St

Pa th

Birch St

Matlock St

ek re C i St Merr Kendall Site for Slow Dinner

Staﬀord St

yc le

Willow St

Nicholso nS

t Younger S

Bi c

nt sa a e Mount Pl

In a sense, the deliberate purposeful inhabita�on of this space enables it to transcend the geometric and built environment, without formal walls and boundaries. Engagement in and understanding of this space and the ethos of Slow is enabled through connec�on with the place via the act of inges�on of its produce s well as its inhabita�on.

k ee Cr

Upon this par�cular site various vegetables, fruit, legumes, nuts and herbs are grown. It is this space that then makes up the stage for a symbolic, ephemeral interior.

Bell St ri er M

The site chosen for the Slow Kitchen is CERES organic market garden plot. It consists of 2.3 acres of once un useable land on the banks of the Merri Creek.

the slow kitchen BICYCLE LED KITCHEN TRAILER ADVOCATING THE ETHOS OF THE SLOW FOOD MOVEMENT

The aim of the Slow kitchen is to create “a space” with which we can connect. A space in which we see and experience the food produc�on cycle, from the ground to our plate before us. A space within which we may comprehend and see the ideas embodied by the Slow Movement in prac�ce. Using the principles of Slow design, The Slow Kitchen is a vehicle (in both a metaphorical and physical sense), to advocate the ideas and philosophy of the Slow Movement. The vehicle is essen�ally a modular, bicycle led trailer, which transforms into a working kitchen interior, within or adjacent to the primary produc�on site of a chosen Slow Food ingredient or ingredients that will form the basis of a Slow Food meal. It is the space from which the food is harvested that then makes up the stage for a symbolic, ephemeral interior. In a sense, the deliberate purposeful inhabita�on of this space enables it to transcend the geometric and built environment, without formal walls and boundaries. Engagement in and understanding of this space and the ethos of Slow is enabled through connec�on with the place from which a primary food ingredient is sourced.

1 2 3

Preparing vegetables from market garden site. Slow Kitchen in transit mode a�ached to bicycle. The Slow Kitchen on exhibi�on at Object Gallery.

slow kitchen TECHNICAL DIAGRAMS

1 a c

1 2 3 4 5 6

Perspec�ve drawing: transit mode. Plan Side eleva�on Perspec�ve drawing: cooking mode. Sec�on c-c detailing work bench support. Diagram showing conversion of work bench to table proceedure. (a) table top halves removed from trailer (b) table top slo�ed together (c) legs inserted into slots (d) legs ﬁxed and tensioned with brace bar Inser�on and locking into place of stove bearer arms.

The primary material used to construct the Slow Kitchen is locally and sustainably produced, hoop pine ply wood, whilst its construc�on relies on �me honoured methods of tradi�onal wood cra�s. The Slow movement seeks to provide an alterna�ve to a society in which we seemingly have no �me for the things that we actually enjoy doing, and thus, bringing us back into step with the natural rhythm of both ourselves and our environment. Within the space of the Slow Kitchen and its surrounds not only do we see the body in space but space within the body. Through the inges�on of produce from the given site, immediately there is an in�macy between habitat and inhabitant. The Slow Kitchen is the an�thesis of a design prac�ce unsympathe�c and disconnected to its surrounds and landscape. Through the slow kitchen I wish to state the importance of our rela�onship, both spa�ally and otherwise to our surrounds and environment.

1 2 3 4 5 6

Cooking on site at CERES organic market garden. Small gathering ea�ng produce from the ﬁeld. The slow kitchen on display at Object Gallery, Sydney. Produce from site displayed before cooking. Diagram detailing rail to support table top/bench parts. Sec�on showing bio gas cylinder and harness.