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A Curtain Rise on Elegance
November 16, 2022
Anurag Yadav
At a time when the forces of consumerism choose luxury and excess to make a statement, the Sipario kitchen design elects to present a clean spacious and ‘airy’ design.
As a place where design and technology meet, the kitchen is an area of constant exploration. Renowned industrial designer Makio Hasuike has created a new modern kitchen which redefines the aesthetics of minimalism.
Given his Japanese background and Italian influences, his kitchen design lies at the intersection of Japanese simplicity and Italian modernist design. The kitchen is a joint effort with the ARAN Cucine projecting team to reinvent a few elements and finishes of the kitchen, called Sipario. The kitchen, much like a theatrical piece, is composed of different ‘parts’.
It comes across as an island suspended from the floor. It can act as a worktop or as a gathering table. With a number of open modules with glass shelves, doors or organised drawers, the island becomes the stage of all gestures and movements which are protagonists in the kitchen environment.
Its versatility is evident in the freedom the design accords to expanding and interpreting its use. Free-standing modular elements, which can be crystal cabinets, or built-in appliances columns can be seamlessly integrated into the design.
There is this snack top and worktop, that is extremely functional, and provides a ribalta shelf which allows the extension of the surface, or even the creation of an independent one. The pull-out accessories, such as towels, sticks and trays, together with the light and easily accessible structure, make this element the ideal table for any kitchen area.
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Photo Courtesy: Aran Cucine
The concept draws a parallel with theatre where the art of cooking comes on stage. Not only the user, but the guest or anyone witness to the process of preparing, cooking and tasting in this kitchen takes up one or the other part of the protagonist, or audience.
Sipario means “curtain” in Italian. The idea behind this design was to discreetly hide behind a curtain, all elements that are not in use at any given time. That ‘curtain’ in this case, is represented by a wide single-door cabinet that opens vertically with a servo drive mechanism. There is integrated lighting in the shelves in this cabinet and ventilation is also integrated into the system.
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The designer asserts that in the future kitchen design will include smart technology inbuilt and embedded in the design stage. The idea of singular appliances being added as afterthought is going out of the window. The Sipario kitchen struts its fare in different finishes – including Solid Surface and ergonomic and hygienical steel. The encore could be deafening.
Kitchen Ideas spoke to Makio Hasuike regarding his ideas on design in general and Sipario in particular.
What is more important in any product: design-artistic attitude or pragmatism and functionality?
Though both are integral to any product design, the balance between the artistic and the functional part changes depending on the type of product. Save purely functional ones (like work instruments), the emotional and sensorial factor could be useful in any product. It is part of the designer's work not to dwell only on solving functional problems.
The function of design is to transcend mere function and create a feeling and build emotions through the product. The main factors that contribute to the final expression of a project can be different, and are often associated with the choice of materials, finishes and aesthetic of the product. In fact, celebrating and enhancing the emotional aspect of an object oftentimes also indirectly increases its functionality.
What was the central idea behind your Sipario kitchen design?
The idea behind Sipario is that of staging the art of cooking as in a theatrical performance. Sipario is made of two characteristic elements: the stage, which looks like a compact monobloc equipped for preparation and cooking; and the curtain, which is a single wall unit with glass shelves with integrated hood and lighting. The scene is completed with the columns and the island counter.
The stage, which is the main operational block of the kitchen, suspended from the ground thanks to the support of the legs, generates a visual suspension effect with the floor, creating a greater depth since it has complete visibility of the area below. This also influences some practical aspects: in fact, the suspension makes it easier to clean the floor, which is often dirty for common usage reasons. Furthermore, the kitchen block, which doesn’t arrive (as commonly happens) up to the bottom, allows an immediacy of use and makes access to the container area easier. Even the curtain, the door of the upper container, once opened, allows complete access to the objects contained in it and, at the same time, has the function of collecting and conveying the stale air generated during the preparation of food towards the hood positioned inside the door.
Photo Courtesy: Aran Cucine
Kitchen design is supposed to be more function-focused. How much can the design work on it?
One of the purposes of a designer’s work is to improve the functionality of a product. In particular, in the kitchen world, the main goal consists in facilitating daily activities related to the various steps of food preparation.
For example in Sipario, there are lots of details that improve the kitchen’s functionality. There is a distinct cleaning advantage which derives from the suspension of the lower block, and the easiness of access to the objects contained in the upper block. The correct positioning and distribution of the areas dedicated to cooking, washing and preparation of food also adds its bit.
It is important that each operating area is completely and easily accessible for cleaning. Easily washable materials used in this kitchen, materials that resist high temperatures in the cooking area, adequately react in humidity conditions, handle the stagnant presence of water and are resistant to abrasion also make the kitchen completely functional and safe.
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Doesn’t technology dismiss design as "decoration"?
Could technology ever render design useless? Although at first sight seen as two opposite things, they can be complementary and integrated. In fact, the design brings the user closer to technological aspects, which could otherwise be perceived as aseptic or distant. Technology has a great need for design to be understood for its infinite potential. Technology needs design to make it more human and user-focused so that users perceive it as something that facilitates its actions, not hinders them.
You have spoken of "democratic" design. Kindly elaborate on that.
Since its beginnings, design has set itself the goal of improving daily life, and for this purpose, technology and industry have committed and worked to achieve this goal so that everyone can enjoy a better life, in a democratic way.
In today's situation, instead, talking about democratic design has a different subtext. The best products, with high performances and good features, also have high costs and so they are dedicated to a small elite, and a small market.
Consequently, nowadays "democratic design" would be that one which, without reducing the real and perceived values of the product, makes it economically accessible for all. How can that be achieved? Through a study of technologically more efficient solutions, working in symbiosis with companies, with the aim of containing costs and not altering the quality of the product offered.
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