For homeowners today, the kitchen is undeniably the heart of the home, occupying a lot of the budget and focus when designing a new house. Has the kitchen always held such importance in a floor plan? Here is a brief history of the kitchen for context around the evolution of this important space at home.
The early history of the kitchen
Home design, in general, evolves in response to a few key factors: technology, tastes, availability or popularity of materials and societal influences that shape how we use (and what we expect of) our built environment.
- The kitchen is reflective of this concept, with early iterations in ancient times featuring open fires with pots and spits, and later with the construction of chimneys in the Middle Ages and afterwards, in part because of health and safety concerns.
- Later, in the mid-1800s, Benjamin Franklin invented the Franklin Stove, an enclosed, wood-burning stove with innovative engineering that intentionally directed heat, while helping with fire safety.
- Soon afterwards, the Industrial Revolution offered mass production of appliances and tools that facilitated cooking at home.
- In the early days, kitchens served as a gathering hub for the household, mostly because it was a source of heat. As heating and other housing infrastructure evolved, and a class system, where much of the food prep was delegated to household servants, the design of the kitchen, as well as its placement in the home evolved.
- For example, in Victoria-era housing, kitchens were usually located in the basement or at the rear of the home, away from common areas. This was to contain heat, odors and the “mess” of food preparation away from the household.
- In terms of kitchen design, it wasn’t until the 20th century that kitchens featured built-in workstations and storage. Storage was offered by hutches and cabinets, while food prep was typically done on large tables.
As the 20th century unfolded, kitchen design picked up the pace, alongside a rapidly changing society and emerging tech that was particularly influential in kitchen design.
The Frankfurt Kitchen and its role in the history of the kitchen
Shortly after WWI, in response to a need for low-cost, mass-produced housing that could efficiently work in a tight footprint, what is considered the foundation for the modern kitchen was born.
Designer by Austrian architect Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky in the mid-1920s, as part of a massive apartment housing project in Frankfurt, the Frankfurt Kitchen offered a compact and efficient design.
Notably, the kitchen was a distinct room separated by the main living space with a sliding door. The kitchen made use of its perimeter, and included an electric stove, a window, a countertop workstation with seating, built-in cabinetry, standardized-height countertops and a sink.
The design made use of vertical space as well, with floating shelves for additional storage.
The design considered efficiency within the small physical space, but also strove to be efficient in the eyes of the end user — with sensible workflow that required fewer steps between workstations for the home cook, ostensibly to making cooking easier and faster.
The marvel of the Frankfurt Kitchen is its simplicity and sharp focus on functionality, which is the cornerstone of kitchen design today. The design also underscores the concept that aesthetics builds from functionality in interior design, not the other way around, because the end user appreciates, rather than resents, the space.
The tight design of the Frankfurt Kitchen also counters what many homeowners today perceive to be a dream kitchen: large, airy, tons of storage, multiple islands and workstations, along with space dedicated to entertaining.
However, as the Frankfurt Kitchen’s compact design demonstrates, size does not matter in creating a great kitchen, but function-first design does.
Interestingly. Schutte-Lihotzky apparently drew inspiration for her Frankfurt Kitchen from galley-style kitchens on railway cars, ultra-compact, but with design supportive to feed numerous passengers quickly.
Frank Lloyd Wright and the kitchen island
One of the most significant events in the history of kitchen design happened in the 1930s, when iconic architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed what is largely considered the precursor to the anchor of our modern-day kitchens- the kitchen island.
In reaction to a shift in society at the time, with homeowners taking on domestic chores themselves, as opposed to employing servants, including cooking themselves, Wright designed a kitchen where food prep and the cook being on display, was an intentional design component. The goal was for the homeowner to remain connected with guests and household members seated nearby in adjacent spaces.
In the kitchen was a workstation with a glass portion, which contained kitchen odors to a certain degree, and made a distinction in space, while establishing a visual connection.
Wright considered the kitchen design from an experiential point of view, on behalf of the homeowner, whose lifestyle required frequent entertaining,
Integrating the kitchen into the common areas was a radical notion at the time but was a key component of the open-concept floor plan that Wright favored, which would later set the standard for popular home design.
Notably, in these same homes where Wright revolutionized the open-concept floor plan with a kitchen island, he also actively designed to foster an indoor-outdoor connection, another enduring trend in today’s design.
- As the 20th century continued, kitchen trends evolved rapidly, including the fitted kitchen in the 1950s, the bold and bright color palettes of the 1960s and 1970s, the U-shaped kitchens of the 1980s and the white appliances and granite countertops of the 1990s.
Top 2024 kitchen trends
The kitchen is at an interesting point in its history, as trend cycles see some repetition of the past, fused with innovative new tech and design to combine to create functional, personally meaningful and beautiful spaces for homeowners.
Top 2024 kitchen trends include:
Kitchen islands (sometimes two)
Featuring built-in functionality, such as beverage fridges, sinks, cooktops. Also popular is making better use of knee space under the island for dog bowls, and as an additional decorative feature.
Color
While all-white kitchens dominated kitchen trends for years, color has come back in a big way in kitchen design, as homeowners embrace the opportunity for self-expression in the kitchen.
Wood
As an integral component of popular Japandi and Biophilic design trends, wood is being used commonly in the kitchen, as a subtle way to introduce both color and textured warmth.
Metallics
Homeowners are mixing metals in the kitchen and using metal more often in backsplashes and counters.
Auxiliary spaces
Although the open-concept floor plan remains the most popular, because of how well it lends itself to work/live play, homeowners are reverting to a kitchen trend from the 19th century: concealed workspaces where the dirty work of food prep happens. Sculleries and butler’s pantries feature additional storage, countertop workspace and sometimes additional fridge, oven and/or dishwasher, out of sight from guests.
Smart tech
From incredibly precise induction cooktops to smart ovens and refrigerators with wi-fi connectivity and a range of cutting-edge features, kitchen appliances take the concept of supporting workflow and kitchen convenience to the next level.
A focus on sustainability
With a greater focus on including sustainable choices in home design, homeowners favor energy-efficient appliances and fixtures in the kitchen. Similarly, they are choosing sustainable materials in their kitchen design, such as wood, rattan, bamboo, cork and natural stone.
