european-kitchen-design.com

Perfectly reclaimed old faucet

I love recycling (and I’m not talking about plastic bottles and cans, though that is very important too). I just love it when creative designers, like the team at Cousaert Vanderdockt from Belgium, find old “junk” and turn it into art, furniture and even kitchens.

Kitchens made of reclaimed materials put together geniusly

Though some of the furniture pieces are genius, this blog is all about kitchens, so I’ll focus on that. Their kitchen designs have so much character, so much wonderful texture and just that certain je ne sais quoi about them. The reclaimed wood, together with the antique stone sinks and the old world faucets are put together so cleverly that I just love every part of it. 

From the kitchen cabinetry, through the sink and even the faucet.

European kitchens are mostly cleaned lined and very minimalistic, creating the ultimate modern kitchens or the other extreme - old world English or French style kitchens, that are classic and traditional kitchens but in a very balanced and structured way, following symmetrical design rules.

The antique butcher block blends right in.

Cousaert Vanderdockt designs break all these rules and the molds all together - they are so simple and yet have a lot of depth to them. They feeling they create is just very comfortable and it makes me want to go out and build a house in this theme…

The patina on this stone counter makes it looks like it it's been there forever...

I just returned from Italy and as always, in addition to the great food and the excellent wine, I got a chance to see some beautiful Italian kitchens.

One of my all time favorite Italian kitchen manufacturers is without a doubt Marchi Cucina. In a country that has a kitchen factory at every corner and produces more kitchens then any other country in the world it is very hard to stand out and create something very different and unique but Marchi Cucine does it time and time again.

Just like companies like Boffi, Val Cucine, Pedini and Snaidero are the industry leaders in the contemporary and modern kitchen design; Marchi Cucine is the undisputed leader in the non contemporary design - the traditional kitchen design.

In reality though, when you look at their original designs, they are not just creators of traditional and old world kitchens, but actually create their own unique category. Some of their kitchens are contemporary looking with traditional and old world elements, like aluminum doors in a traditional wood frame that has wood carvings on it. Other designs look like they are taken out of a movie set in Hollywood, for a movie that is supposed to take place in the America in the 1960’s.

The amazing use of woods, metals, glass and stones, all mixed with fresh applications and designs are what make Marchi not just a leader in the kitchen design industry but really one of a kind pioneer that is second to none!

Be sure to visit their new web site that unfortunately is not in English and is very slow and full of flash animation - it is worth the wait!

To the designers at the Marchi Group - Bravo!

One style of European kitchen design that is so typical to French kitchens and that has not crossed to many country boarders and have certainly not cross the ocean to the US is the French Old World  built in kitchens. You find these typical French kitchens in many of the French country side homes and in some German, Italian and Swiss homes.

These kitchens are very unique in the sense that they are individually built into walls and masonry, which is what gives them their very unique look. Companies like Ateliers Jean Daniel , Le lys d’Argent and Les Rustiques sur Mesure are the specialist in this field.

To see the process of building one of these kitchens you can visit Cusines Provencales’s web site.

Not all Italian kitchens are created contemporary - The Fenice Collection, from Cadore

In this Kitchen, Cadore revives the Barocco (Baroque) style. Unlike the Sicilian / Naples Baroque, which is very rich and ornate, the Fenice is more delicate, with much finer carvings and decorations. The inspiration, for this design, came from the famous La Fenice Venetian Theatre, with its typical Baroque eighteenth-century Veneziano design.

The Fenice Collection from Cadore is a kitchen that is built from the highest quality materials available. Finished in antique silver leafing and a ‘pinkish hew’, the classic appearance hides the most sophisticated interiors that are available today - Blum’s Servo Drive automated opening drawers, soft closing drawer glides, internal accessories by Kessebomher and much more.

Classic style and advance technology combined together in a single collection og high quality, design and comfort - The Fenice.

Another manufacturer that is very well known for its unique and innovative traditional designs is Marchi. Every one of their models looks like it’s taken out of a ‘Hollywood movie set’ and tells an entire story. Shown below is the Dhialma model from Marchi.

A very elegant traditional kitchen is the Tosca model, from Martini. Shown below, in painted with silver accents and a dark color island.

If you missed the 2008 Eurocucina (Milan, April 16th-21st), you’ll need to wait 2 years to attend the next one… In the meantime, here are a few highlights.

One of the most interesting comments that you hear from many of the show attendees is that it almost seemed like the entire show is designed by one company… So many of the products are so similar to each other, using the same colors, materials and features that by the tenth stand, you are starting to get the feeling that you’ve seen this kitchen in front of you already.

The truth of the matter is that many of the products are indeed very similar. The first reason is because it is very difficult to ‘re-invent the wheel’ over and over again, year after year, so the amount of innovation and the level of invention are somewhat limited.

Another reason for the similarity between the companies’ products is the fact that they are all influenced by the current trends/colrs/fashion, they are also influencing each other and to some degree copy each other. Therefore, if they do not have a brand new look, a ‘design first’, there is a very good chance you’ll see it everywhere.

Add to that the fact that all the manufacturers are sharing the same suppliers and some of the same sources - that alone will limit the amount of new looks you’ll be able to present.

With all of the above said, some brands are always working harder and are able to come up with something new. It may not be a complete ‘design-break-through’ every time, but at the least it will be an attempt in achieving one. These companies belong to the small and very exclusive group of the ‘trend setting’ brands - they are the ones that set the tone, the ones everyone is watching and the ones that will be copied.

A couple of great examples of the companies that displayed new and exciting designs this year were Marchi and Pedini - one is very tradinional with an ‘old world’ feel, the other is ‘cutting edge’ contemporary. They are always located side by side, at Eurocucina - always showing brand new designs and never disappointing.

Above: Marchi Group

Above: Kitchen Design By Marchi.

Above: Pedini

Above: ‘Dune” by Pedini.

Above: “Dune” by Pedini.

It is not easy to keep coming up with new designs, or to find new materials that can be used to create ‘the new look’.  For that purpose, these companies are hiring the services of very talented designers, architects and design firms. Some are coming from different industries and are making the ‘cross over’ to the kitchen design field from other areas. Lately it is the automobile designers that are entering the kitchen arena (Pininfarina, for Snaidero, Porsche for Poggenpohl and Lamborghini for Pedini.

Every two years, the world’s kitchen industry people are gathering in Milan for Eurocucina - the biggest, best and actually the only international kitchen trade show. It is the most importent section in the Salone Internazionale del Mobile (the International Furniture Show).

Until a few years ago, there were two international kitchen industry trade shows - one in Milan, Italy - Eurocucina and on in Cologne, Germany - IMM. One year everyone went to Milan and then the following year, they all attended Cologne. While Milan featured mostly Italian kitchens Cologne focused on the German brands (In total, the Italian and German kitchen companies are producing most of the kitchens in Europe. Germany produced nearly 4 billion Euro worth of kitchens in 2006!).

Several years ago, something started changing - the higher-end German companies stopped exhibiting in Cologne and instead, chose to create in-house fairs, at their factories, for their own clients and invited guests only. It saved them lots of money, they kept the displays at the factory showrooms and they kept their clients “in house” without needing to compete on their attention. 

Slowly but surly, the other German companies followed and not before long, the Cologne show lost its momentum and became not so relevant anymore, at least not for the non-German kitchen industry.

As a result of the Cologne show slowly ‘dying’, the one in Milan got stronger and became the main and really the only international trade show for the kitchen industry. More and more German manufacturers started exhibiting in the Milan show and some brands from other countries as well. If in 1995 there were only 2 non Italian exhibitors, in 2006 the number reached 21. The exhibit area grew from almost 20,000 sq. meters, in 1995, to 33,778 in 2006. Though the number of Italian visitors remained almost the same in these 11 years (92,058 in 1995 - 99,747 in 2006) the non Italian visitors numbers ‘jump’ from 58,562 to 123,391! 

The Italian companies have always treated Euro Cucina as ‘a must attend event’. The export manager of Pedini Cucine, Mr. Simone Gennari says:” We have to exhibit at Euro Cucina. If you are an Italian kitchen company that wants to be respect, you must exhibit here, every time. My clients expect us to be here and show our new models and all of our competitors are here as well - to show their product and see what we do”. For this specefic reason, Pedini nearly doubled it’s stand in Eurocucina this year, to 300 sq. meters.

So, if you haven’t booked your airline tickets and hotel room in Milan for this April - do it now! It may be already too late…

More about CONTEMPORARY KITCHENS

One of the most famous hotels in the world (if not THE most famous), The Plaza Hotel, in NYC, is undergoing a complete renovation. The new owners, the Elad Group, had chosen Küche+Cucina to create all the kitchens and closets for the hotel.  The cabinetry for the hotel kitchens and wet-bars, as well as the closets are all made in Italy, in the ‘Plaza tradition’ - the cabinetry is hand-painted with gold leaf accents and the closets are done in Mahogany wood with a ‘diamond shaped’ design. The hotel is scheduled to reopen to the public in early 2008.