Professional Documents
Culture Documents
The Kitchen
Life World, Usage, Perspectives
Contents
Klaus Spechtenhauser
Foreword
Johanna Rolshoven
Alice Vollenweider
17
Michelle Corrodi
21
Klaus Spechtenhauser
45
Gert Khler
75
The Kitchen Today. And a Little Bit Yesterday. And Tomorrow, Too,
Of Course.
On Kitchen Styles and Lifestyles
Christina Sonderegger
95
Brigitte Kesselring
113
131
Ghostly Silence
The Unemployed Kitchen
Ren Ammann
149
To Table! To Table?
157
Select Bibliography
159
Klaus Spechtenhauser
Foreword
Johanna Rolshoven
12 The kitchen as a site for inspiring ambience, poetic images, intense discussions,
everyday work, conspiratory meetings,
and, finally, as a place for creating delicious
meals . . .
navel of the home, the transformation of values from the old to the
new was particularly evident.
It was the nineteenth century, as well, that saw the kitchen unmistakably and emphatically assigned to the woman as her personal
realm. The construction, or rather invention, of this femina domestica was a necessary counterpart to the new, bourgeois homo
oeconomicus the ascendant species of the industrial society that
was helping to seal class distinctions in terms of both economy and
habitus.
The twentieth-century evolution of the kitchen is described in
this volume by Michelle Corrodi and Klaus Spechtenhauser as a
process of accommodating the kitchen to social transformation.
This development ending, for now, with the happy coexistence
in the kitchen of today can hardly be seen as linear. But one thing
is clear: the more the man is freed from the economic imperative to
work, the more leisure becomes a space for self-projection. It would
seem that the kitchens time as that desolate space on the margins
of domestic life15 is finally over. Its way to becoming a theater
(Lfgren) for the homo domesticus appears to be a logically predetermined development.
This late modern episode in the civilizing process has taken place
in stages. Mans path has been a rocky one, and one for which
women initially showed little solidarity or comprehension: beginning with making a sandwich all on his own and inserting a forlorn
frozen pizza clumsily, and not always without hitting the floor
first into a successfully preheated oven, to actually using scissors
to open a stubborn bag of frozen french fries and preparing
spaghetti for the children for lunch, all the way to lovingly composing a three-course meal on the weekend a feat that folklorist
Carola Lipp has called a milestone in the civilization of the industrialized man.16
You Wanted an Oven, Now You Have a Hobby.17
Modern sociologists of leisure have painstakingly determined that
this world of leisure and consumption is governed by the same
principles that rule the world of work; but this does not necessarily
follow for all features of everyday life, and the reverse is even less
true. We would, for example, be taking such deregulation too literally were we to try translating into the world of work the kitchens
physical condition following the preparation of that three-course
meal on the weekend.
Irony is a natural last defense for the woman in her rearguard
action. She has witnessed the world to which she was beholden for
decades being monopolized with increasing competence and innovativeness and with the support of technical and aesthetic armaments. Gone are the times when modern kitchen construction was a
matter, and hence a weapon, for men when the little lady was
provided with tiny fitted kitchens with ridiculously low sinks and
countertops that gave any normal-sized woman painful back problems. Now that more men are cooking and finding their way into
the kitchen, kitchens have acquired more generous proportions and
are designed as open kitchen/living spaces, thus relieving their users
of the high degree of body control that was necessary for survival in
the earlier, smaller kitchens.
12
13
14
1 Bernhard Waldenfels, Heimat in der Fremde, in Bundeszentrale fr politische Bildung, ed. Heimat. Analysen, Themen, Perspektiven (Bonn, 1990): 109121; 117.
2 Mirko Beetschen, Kitchen Stories, Ideales Heim 2 (February 2005): 102114; 103.
3 Kitchen designer Alberto Colonello, cited in ibid., 110.
4 Ibid., 104.
5 Anneke Bokern, Gutaussehende Allesknner. Architekten als Werbetrger in einer
Rotterdamer Ausstellung, Neue Zrcher Zeitung 89 (18 April 2004): 23.
6 Bulthaup advertisement, Ideales Heim 2 (February 2005): 3.
7 Suter-Inox advertisement, ibid., 47.
8 Martin Scharfe, Die groben Unterschiede: Not und Sinnesorganisation: Zur historisch-geselleschaftlichen Relativitt des Geniessens beim Essen, in Tbinger
Beitrge zur Volkskultur, ed. Utz Jeggle et al. (Tbingen: Tbinger Vereinigung fr
Volkskunde, 1986): 1328.
9 At least that was what a 2004 German television commercial promised.
10 Joost Meuwissen, Darstellung des Wohnens, in Lebenslandschaften: Zuknftiges
Wohnen im Schnittpunkt zwischen privat und ffentlich, ed. Peter Dllmann and
Robert Temel (Frankfurt am Main: Campus, 2002): 2630; 26.
11 Daniel Miller, Appropriating the State on the Council Estate, MAN 23 (1988):
353372.
12 See Martine Sgalen and Christian Bromberger, Lobjet moderne: de la production
srielle la diversit des usages, Ethnologie franaise 26, 1 (1996): 516.
13 Arclinea advertisement, Ideales Heim 10 (October 2004): 61.
14 Orvar Lfgren, The Sweetness of Home: Trautes Heim, in Ehe, Liebe, Tod. Studien zur Geschichte des Alltags, ed. Peter Borscheid and Hans J. Teuteberg (Mnster:
Coppenrath, 1983): 8096.
15 Elisabeth Katschnig-Fasch, Wohnen Aspekte zu einer volkskundlich/kulturanalytischen Erforschung der Alltagskultur, Mitteilungen der Anthropologischen
Gesellschaft in Wien 121 (1991): 5968; 64.
16 Carola Lipp, Der industrialisierte Mensch: Zum Wandel historischer Erfahrung
und wissenschaftlicher Deutungsmuster, in Der industrialisierte Mensch, ed. Michael
Dauskardt and Helge Gerndt (Hagen: Westflisches Freilichtmuseum, 1993): 1743; 28.
17 Siemens advertisement, Ideales Heim 2 (Feb 2005), 5.
18 Gerd Selle, Innen und aussen Wohnen als Daseinsentwurf zwischen Einschlieung und erzwungener Hoffnung in Dllman and Temel, Lebenslandschaften,
209228; 221.
19 Hilde Malcomess, Kochen ist mnnlich, Rheinischer Merkur 2, 20 January 2005.
20 Ibid.
21 Ibid.
22 See Michael Andritzky, Der elektrische und der kologische Haushalt zwei
Szenarien, in Oikos Von der Feuerstelle zur Mikrowelle. Haushalt und Wohnen im
Wandel, ed. Michael Andritzky (Giessen: Anabas, 1992): 450452; 452.
23 Mrgeli advertisement, Ideales Heim 2 (February 2005), 115.
24 Bulthaup advertisement, ibid., 3.
25 Corian advertisement, ibid., 50.
26 Selle, Innen und aussen, 216.
15
Alice Vollenweider
Michelle Corrodi
kitchen was where food was prepared and the servants spent their
time. It was the dining room where the food got served and consumed.
Far into the twentieth century, a typical kitchen in an upper middle class apartment or villa was furnished with a sink trough permanently installed near the window and a free-standing stove with a
stovepipe and multiple burners that was heated by coal or wood.6
The walls were lined with rows of detached shelving units generally cabinets that could be locked where the entire arsenal of cooking utensils was stored. Lastly, the kitchen always included a table,
an indispensable surface for working.
Bound to the domestic sphere of influence, the lady of the
house was responsible for organizing the household according to
the latest scientific insights into hygiene and nutrition.7 However,
as her agency was regulated by precisely defined rules within a
closed system of practices, the daily preparation of meals and management of the household presented considerable demands. This
led to an increase in the work load due to the rapidly dwindling
number of domestic servants around the turn of the century. For
some overwhelmed housewives, hysteria was the only way to
break out of the role so rigidly assigned to them, as concerned
economists, psychologists, doctors, and architects of the time
determined. Their efforts were directed one by one against every-
22
23
forms dominate throughout the space. Even though Behrens followed the bourgeois tradition of having the kitchen on the ground
floor, he nevertheless included the kitchen in his concept for the
entire house. Another example is the kitchen of the Villa Kurz
in Knorr [Jgerndorf], Czech Republic, designed in 1902/03 by
Leopold Bauer. Here, the clearly outlined forms and contours of the
furniture combine into an ensemble that is subject to the primacy
of the square. The practical ordering of individual pieces of furniture
in a row along the wall, together with their sober monochromatic
color, give the room a cool, almost sterile atmosphere. This was in
keeping with the widespread concern, advanced by the hygiene
movement, for cleanliness in the kitchen. Similarly, the compact furnishings in the kitchen of the Palais Stoclet in Brussels, designed in
1905 to 1911 by Josef Hoffman, are made up of individual cabinets
that conform exactly to the original layout.
Kitchen as Nucleus: The Nineteenth-Century Working-Class Household
For the majority of the population, even smaller and simpler versions of the bourgeois dwelling were unaffordable. Working class
apartments generally comprised two rooms with at most a small, additional closet. In order to pay the rent, occupants were often forced
24
to take in extra lodgers with whom they would share their mattresses in shifts.12
The kitchen in a workers tenement was located generally in the
entry area of the apartment and was used by the occupants as a
multifunctional living area. Measuring 130160 sq. ft., this area was
where daily life took place, where the occupants ate, worked,
washed, and in some cases slept. Condemned by doctors and social
reformers, these often unfit dwellings were characterized by inefficient stoves and smoky air: the kitchen stove was the only source
of heat and was used equally for cooking and for heating.13 In
the middle of the kitchen there was generally a table that served
both as a workspace and for the preparation and consumption
of meals. This was the real center of the apartment. In the absence
of a parlor, the kitchen was made into a more liveable space
through various means and features. In contrast to the white-lacquered kitchen furniture of the bourgeois household, here wooden
furniture either painted brown or left unpainted was preferred.
A tablecloth for the table, a quilt for the sofa, embroidered cotton
runners for the shelves all gave the room a comfortable ambience.
Furniture and appliances were arranged in accordance with this
principle rather than practical criteria such as work routine.
Cooking was at the center of everyday domestic life, but had to
be fit in with the work schedule at the factory.14 More and more
women saw themselves forced to work in factories just to make sure
the family had enough to eat every day. Food preparation thus took
place under the pressure of time constraints, which frequently led to
serious nutritional problems. Living conditions among the lower
classes thus became an object of general concern, not least because
the maintenance of workers health had economic consequences for
the state. Working-class women were often reproached by doctors
and social reformers for cooking badly and uneconomically: inefficient management of the household was blamed for the poor
25
portant concept; given the absence of servants and the double burden of the gainfully employed housewife, timesaving took on an
increasingly vital role. Instead of delegating work, housewives now
had to find ways of executing it more economically and efficiently,
which would lead to the compatibility of job and household. The
kitchen as the work world of the housewife came under increasing
scrutiny.
After 1900, a series of politically active women began making
the effectivization and collectivization of housework a public
issue.18 The progressive wing of the womens movement essentially
demanded a liberation from housework.19 The most radical of
their initiatives was directed at the dissolution of private households in favor of collective households, the so-called one kitchen
house,20 where the housework of individual apartments was
pooled in a central administration unit. Well into the twenties in
Germany, Austria, and Switzerland a number of specific projects
were established that involved different service facilities depending
on the target group. Nevertheless, the one-kitchen house was not
very successful in proving its relevance for home building. The
ideal of a communal kitchen arrangment may have been a popular
idea among bourgeois intellectuals (the housewife has more time
for useful housework and for raising her children21), but did not
yield the anticipated success. Opponents of the one-kitchen house
were afraid that it would have adverse effects on familial cohesion
and on taste, inasmuch as the housewife was no longer cooking
meals with her familys particular taste buds in mind.22 The onekitchen house ended up failing not least due to interpersonal strife
and the varying material circumstances of the families occupying a
given house.23
Rationalization: The Womans Liberation
The reform movement for the one-kitchen house died out in the
middle of the twenties. In place of a centralized economy of households, the rationalization of the small, private household now became the goal. People wanted to exhaust the possibilities promised
by the increased technologization of the home. One specific aim was
to improve the kitchens spatial arrangement through a cost-effective
reorganization of the floor plan. This reinvention of the womans
everyday work setting resulted directly from rationalization efforts
taking place in the United States. There, the translation of Taylorist
work methods to the home entailed new principles of saving (time,
energy, space, and money), which were to bring with them the
hoped-for easement of work. Following this American model, architects of the New Building movement of the twenties integrated
measures such as more efficient handles, reduced distances, and
timesaving appliances into their designs.
Household rationalization originated in the United States in
conjunction with the so-called servant question. According to the
American social worker Catherine Beecher, the employment of
servants was irreconcilable with the democratic principle of equality. She understood the kitchen as a workplace and called for the
cooperation of all family members as well as improved organization of space and working conditions. Beecher saw perfect working conditions for a housewife manifested in the functionally minimized galleys of Mississippi steamboats, and in 1869 she designed
28
29
30
broom
closet
anteroom
landing
living room
bedroom
WC
alcove
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
kitchen
31
8. two-part screen
9. rod with blind, closes the
bed alcove
10. tile oven
11. built-in cupboard
12. double bed for married
couple
13. kitchen table, with cabinet
below
lady
bath
gentleman
children
alcove
living room
dining room
kitchen
hall
SPK
WC
guest room
WF
2.5
5m
33
25 Margarete Schtte-Lihotzkys Frankfurt Kitchen: The kitchen for the household without household help. Presented as
a model kitchen at the 1927 Neuzeitliche
Haushalt, [Modern household] exhibition
in Frankfurt am Main. View (left). This
model kitchen, commonly regarded as the
Frankfurt Kitchen, was exhibited the
same year at the Stuttgart Werkbund exhibition at the Weissenhof and garnered an
incredible response.
35
36
chest
kitchen
entry area
WC
dining room
seating
counter
live-in kitchen
38
opment of the traditional regional live-in kitchen without its hygienic shortcomings. Major criticisms of the Frankfurt and
Stuttgart Kitchens were taken into account. The Munich Kitchen
thus had a glass wall dividing its 65 sq. ft. cooking area from the 205
sq. ft. living area, permitting the mother to watch her children playing in the living room. The square composition was an improvement
on the narrow rectangle of the Frankfurt Kitchen, as were the
variable shelving inside the cabinets and the free-standing sink,
which allowed one to work while sitting.
In general, all of the kitchens designed by modernist architects
originated in similar ideas, the same ones that informed the Frankfurt Kitchen. All of them are equally guilty of functionalism, if in
varying degrees.43 The same went for the Munich Kitchen: despite
its conceptual differences and the fact that it came the closest of any
of these models to the live-in kitchen, it was not a live-in kitchen
in the traditional sense. Rather, it was an attempt to present the
ideas of a new domestic architecture that of the functional work
kitchen in a light version, thus making them palatable to a
broader public.
Implementing a Successful Model
Nevertheless, none of the examples mentioned here came even close
to having the reception that the Frankfurt Kitchen had. Even today,
no attempt at coverage in dealing with the topic of the kitchen can
afford to leave it out. The enormous popularity and practical success
that the Frankfurt Kitchen enjoyed still cannot be explained solely
by the density of its installations. It was installed in more than ten
thousand apartments in Frankfurt. But in comparison to the housing
achievements of larger cities like Vienna, Berlin, and Hamburg
where at least until the Second World War modern housing projects
availed themselves primarily of more established types of kitchen
this was a negligible number.
No, the reasons for the continued implementation of Margarete
Schtte-Lihotzkys working kitchen can be more easily discerned in
the larger social context. On the one hand, rationalization of the
private household was in keeping with the times although in terms
of type of room, furniture, and unity of purpose, the Frankfurt
Kitchen was a novum. On the other hand, it had to doing with extenuating circumstances that endowed the city of Frankfurt with a
special role and that were in large measure tied to the forceful personality of Ernst May. May, who was in the unique political position
of unifying the municipal offices of Chief Building Inspector and
Building Surveyor in one person, had for obvious reasons a relatively free hand in implementing his modern vision. Mays fame
together with Frankfurts role as the city of early modernism a
reputation it had begun to gain in the twenties and consolidated
following the Second World War doubtless played a part in Mays
efficient use of the media.44 The Frankfurt Kitchen, energetically
propagandized through newspaper articles, radio reports, and even
documentary films, met with interest both at home and abroad.
By the time of its presentation it had already garnered considerable
fame and established itself as a perfect example of rationalized
kitchen dcor.
39
At least since the sixties, however, the live-in kitchen has become
more prominent again. With growing prosperity and mounting
demands manifested in the increased living space per capita the
point is no longer merely to cover needs but to create surplus value.
live-in kitchen
closet
room
live-in kitchen
room
room
room
40
41
42
Klaus Spechtenhauser
Towards the end of the fifties, when these lines were written, the
kitchen-space was a site of significant change. The form of the
modern kitchen was being dictated more and more by the modernization, mechanization, and rationalization of the household and
by new materials and the arrival of the fitted kitchen. This was
accompanied by a fundamental re-evaluation of the role and responsibilities of the housewife. To be sure, she remained the sole ruler of
the kitchen realm, but now, after the years of hardship of the Second
World War, the provision of the basics of life took on a new emotional aspect. She was the one responsible for providing a pleasant
and cozy environment to promote a positive disposition in her husband and children. The rationalization of household chores, reduced
to a minimum thanks to new machines and shortened distances, was
to create the necessary free time for this, and also for the housewife
herself.
Looking back now at the guides to good housekeeping from this
time, these developments seem to belong to a distant past. They
evoke above all the specific aesthetic and taste of the fifties: the first
Resopal kitchens with their garish colors, massive refrigerators,
hors doeuvre platters with large helpings of mayonnaise, CocaCola, and sophisticated peas from the can. Nevertheless, in light of
the development of the kitchen over the last fifty years a development which established the kitchen as an architectural, social, and
imaginative space it is evident that the opening quotation is relevant beyond its particular time frame in relation to the following
crucial factors:
the mechanization, technological upgrading, and, more recently,
digitalization of kitchens and household work;
the triumphant progress of the fitted kitchen, which, despite
45
47
between the kitchen and the living area. In addition, the kitchens of
the housing development in Heiligfeld in Zurich (1947/48, Josef
Schtz & Alfred Mrset) were very similar in a practical sense to the
designs of the thirties: freely erected kitchen furniture, an electric
stove with three burners, a stoneware basin with cold and warm water; the refrigerator was not yet standard equipment. The eastwardfacing kitchens had a direct entrance to the balcony and were enlarged by a relatively generous area of free space, in which the dining/work table was located and which was heated by the tiled stove
in the living room. Here, calls for a rationalization of the household
and kitchen to cut work loads along the lines of the Frankfurt
Kitchen went largely unheeded; nevertheless, it was important that
the kitchen design was well integrated, appropriately proportioned
and suitable for a multifunctional role.
At the very start of the fifties, there was an increased effort to
move away from the traditional style of kitchen design with individual furnishings, a voluminous counter bench and central kitchen
table. This satisfying formal coherence was criticized as an amorphous conglomeration of individual items, in which individual
pieces of equipment and furniture were utilized without regard for
their functional interaction.5 Designers now looked to the individual
demonstration buildings with their model kitchens and the costly
48
architect-designed kitchens for detached houses built in the interwar period: the integration of furniture items and appliances into a
stylish, considered, and coherent whole; the consideration of ergonomic and labor-saving factors; the use of new materials and technological appliances; the increasing adaptation to the available spatial relationships. As had been the case with the first European steps
towards rationalization and mechanization, it was the United States
that provided the models for technologically progressive households. Here, the technical development immediately before the war
had already reached an extremely high standard.6 The concept of the
American wonder-kitchen finally reached Europe via magazines, exhibitions, and the weekly show Wochenschau, setting new standards,
which were, however, still well behind those of the U.S. with respect
to both labor minimization and design. Already at the end of the
thirties, kitchens in the U.S. were described as streamlined, referring not to their formal exterior in terms of the current streamlined
style but instead to the overall planning of the kitchen as a complex
whole with a logical positioning of appliances, fittings, and work
areas. Hence, the term streamlining in kitchens did not only refer
to a creative molding of the surface form but was also used to refer
to an economized, rationalized, and free-flowing style of kitchen
labor.7 Comparison with European conditions at the time seemed
to confirm this. In Germany in the mid-fifties, it was estimated that,
depending on profession, a housewife would spend a combined total
of between sixty-three and eighty-six hours per week on household chores and at work. In comparison, an American housewife
required an average of forty-nine hours due, naturally, to a thoroughly rationalized household with mechanized assistance.8
High time then, for a fundamental revolution of the kitchens of
Europe.
This had already been occurring for some time in Sweden. Here,
ideas for a scientifically planned household flourished, even during
wartime. Research institutes undertook detailed studies of household labor, and were soon advocating the employment of sensible
kitchen appliances and making recommendations on choice of
ground plan and measurements. These developments, termed
broadly as Swedish Kitchens, found wider appeal outside of Sweden, above all in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland: In [Swedish
Kitchens], ergonomic, efficiency-promoting and social innovations
were combined with the typical Scandinavian fondness for simple
wooden furniture to achieve a cozy functionalism.9
The first trends towards the integration and standardization of
furniture and appliances was presented as the sink combination:
the refrigerator, oven, boiler, and cupboards were integrated beneath
a bench top and sink, usually made from rust-resistant steel. Indeed,
this arrangement was soon transformed into the normalized
combination, as, towards the end of the decade, the debate over
wide-ranging standardization kitchen elements intensified.10 Rapidly
gaining ground were wide-ranging, tailor-made kitchen combinations (the first of the fitted kitchens in the post-war period) with
integrated stove cooker, refrigerator, and wash trough, low cupboards, wall cupboards, continuous and generously proportioned
working and storage space, as well as a cleverly devised cupboard
interiors. Thanks to varying sizes and implementation styles,
these new kitchens became affordable investments with a rising
49
2.5
5m
50
52
ping trip. Consumers were also now prepared to travel longer distance: the increased mobility provided by private cars guaranteed
trouble-free access to new self-service shops and, later, to supermarkets the veritable strongholds of freezing technology19
which sprang up on the margins of cities and contributed to a decline in food retail business in residential areas. In contrast to the
traditional bakeries, butchers shops, grocery outlets, and fruit and
vegetable sellers, with their focus on specific ranges of foods, these
new supermarkets, with their previously unimaginable range of
food articles, must have appeared like the consumer land of milk
and honey.20 Shopping, however, lost its element of communication, i. e. exactly that quality we appreciate today when we visit an
alimentari shop in an Italian provincial city, stocked to the ceiling
with products and run by a shopkeeper who explains the differences between distinctive varieties of pasta. The individual service
and purchasing negotiations between the housewife and the butcher,
fishmonger, and fruit or vegetable seller were replaced by the general purchase of packages standardized by weight and type . . ..21
The packaging itself now had to replace the vendor and advertise
and extol the goods, which were displayed in expanses of cooling
units and wall shelves. A careful balance between covering and displaying the packaged contents became an important design element,
complementing the desires of the shopper and motivating a purchase.
With the increasing availability of convenience-products of
each and every variety, traditional methods of conserving foods
(e.g. bottling, preserving, pickling, smoking) began to die out.22
For housewives and other kitchen managers, the making of jams
and syrups became an almost insurmountable hurdle, and consumers came to rely on finished products, whether with preservatives added or manufactured according to the Demeter standard:
54
The responsibility for ones own nutrition was passed on, and
cooking degenerated into following the preparatory instructions
printed on the package. Creamed spinach and pizza were differentiated only by their thawing and cooking times. Groceries turned
into standardized branded products with homogeneous quality
guaranteed.23 And what of the kitchen as a space? As Otl Aicher
put it, it mutated into a branch of the food industry. It seems
that artificial coldness had a decisive influence on consumer sensitivity regarding quality, seasonal availability, and actual taste.
Everything disappeared into the refrigerator even berries, bananas, and melons or was deep-frozen and used later as preference dictated. We read in an advertisement for a deep freezer from
1966: Instead of seven errands per week, now two are enough.
You can also prepare and store additional meals at the same time,
and be ready for unexpected visitors. And thats not all. Youll also
get a completely different feeling a feeling of independence from
shopping lists and seasons. Because summer fruits can now be
enjoyed in winter, too, thanks to the deep freezer.24
Following the widespread purchase of electric washing machines in the sixties, many other electrical appliances conquered the
household with varying degrees of success, changing it into a virtual machinery park: vacuum cleaners, irons, electric razors, drills,
televisions, radios, record players, answering machines; and in the
kitchen: blenders, egg cookers, juicers, toasters, coffee machines,
bread slicers, waffle irons, deep fryers, and electric can openers.
On average, there are around thirty types of electrical appliance in
every household today, helping to make life more enjoyable. The
microwave oven, which found a place in many households from the
eighties onwards, also had a crucial influence on eating habits and
the way food was prepared. It arrived at a particularly convenient
time, coinciding with the declining significance of the family dining
55
community. Now, it was even easier simply to reach into the deep
freezer. Individual menus replaced the monotone character of
the family meal and made it unnecessary to sit around the table together.
The fitted Kitchen as a Standard
The conversion of the kitchen into an arsenal of kitchen machines
and appliances was accompanied by the widespread construction of
fitted kitchens. Architects and planners, and appliance and kitchen
manufacturers promoted these kitchens as the ideal model. In trade
and lifestyle magazines, such as Schner Wohnen and Ideales Heim,
the fitted kitchen was presented in idealized form and as essential
to the modern and rationally managed household. Now only a
fitted kitchen could be a dream kitchen, and consumers responded accordingly. This situation has remained largely unchanged, despite varying utilization preferences, efforts to change
design, and adaptations to ground plans. Like a car, television,
mobile telephone, or summer holidays at the seaside, it seems today
that a fitted kitchen, in which the stove, oven, dishwasher, and
refrigerator can be integrated into the overall design, is a basic,
indispensable requirement.25 In western Germany in the midnineties, fifty per cent of households had a fully fitted kitchen,
while a further twenty-four per cent had at least some elements of
a fitted kitchen.26
There were a number of important factors that aided the spread
of fitted kitchens, one of which was the positive connotations
people attached to the ideas of modern, new, and advanced
associated with this type of design. Then there was the tempting
promise of easing and minimizing household chores by fitting out
kitchens in accordance with ergonomic guidelines and principles of
rational labor management a promise that, over the long term,
turned out to be false. It has long been recognized that the increased mechanization of household chores has had little impact for
the housewife: Although they have changed the home, they have
not brought housewives increased freedom from household drudgery in any tangible way. Research on time budgeting has raised the
question as to whether technology has led to greater flexibility in
housework or to its intensification.27 Rephrased more generally:
At the time when it was closest to being achievable, i. e. the fifties
56
was also the basis for Coop Himmelb(l)aus Softmobil from 1974
onwards. Kitchens and working and living areas were to be brought
into close proximity again. Cooking, at least theoretically, was reevaluated: it was no longer to be seen as an obligatory task (for
women) but as an enjoyable and above all communicative activity
(suitable also for men).
Back to the Kitchen/Living Room
Although the world of men began to impinge on the female territory of the kitchen (men as users, not designers), it would be somewhat daring to assert that the very nature of the minimalist working
kitchen was called into question. But the fact remains that at the
end of the seventies, the well equipped but very small kitchenette
came up against ever more frequent opposition. Even foldable
tables and benches used for eating breakfast or small snacks were
labelled unsatisfactory. Breakfast meals such as muesli, slices of
fruit, or a small, seasonal salad placed further pressure on such minimized eating surfaces. Furthermore, the preparation of these meals
required more space, space that had been rationalized away in the
past few decades. The lack of coziness and a sense of well-being in
the kitchen was ultimately traced back to the cold, sterile atmosphere of dull fitted kitchen combinations with their artificial materials.
62
67
69
1 A. A., Kchentypen. Eine Analyse, Das Wohnen 34, no. 8 (1959): 252255; 255.
2 Two publications in particular provide an overview: Michael Andritzky, ed., Oikos
Von der Feuerstelle zur Mikrowelle: Haushalt und Wohnen im Wandel (Gieen: Anabas, 1992), and Elfie Miklautz, Herbert Lachmayer, and Reinhard Eisendle, eds., Die
Kche: Zur Kulturgeschichte eines architektonischen, sozialen und imaginativen Raums
(Vienna, Cologne, and Weimar: Bhlau, 1999). See also the select bibliography at the
end of this volume.
3 See Michael Andritzky, Balance zwischen Heim und Welt: Wohnweisen und
Lebensstile von 1945 bis heute, in Geschichte des Wohnens, vol. 5: Von 1945 bis heute.
Aufbau Neubau Umbau, ed. Ingeborg Flagge (Stuttgart: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt,
1999): 615686; esp. 626 ff.
4 Margret Trnkle, Neue Wohnhorizonte. Wohnalltag und Haushalt nach 1945 in der
Bundesrepublik, in Flagge, Geschichte des Wohnens, 687806; 722.
5 Hans Hilfiker, Apparateindustrie und Kchenbau. Nach einem Referat von Dipl.
Ing. H. Hilfiker, Schwanden, an der Jahrestagung des CECED, Conseil Europen de la
construction lectro-domestique, vom 27. Juni 1967 in Montreux, (Schwanden, Switzerland: Therma AG, n.d.), 56.
6 See Sigfried Giedions landmark work Mechanization Takes Command. A Contribution to Anonymous History (New York: Oxford University Press, 1948). First published in German in 1982.
7 See Brigitte Selden, Die Stromlinienform im Haushalt, in Stromlinienform, exhibition catalogue, ed. Claude Lichtenstein and Franz Engeler (Zurich and Baden: Museum fr Gestaltung Zrich and Lars Mller, 1992): 121127.
8 Kaethe Lbbert-Griese et al., Die moderne Kche (Hildesheim and Darmstadt:
Werkhof Arbeitsgemeinschaft Die moderne Kche e.V., 1956): 1112.
9 Ruth Hanisch and Mechthild Widrich, Architektur der Kche. Zur Umwertung
eines Wirtschaftsraums in der europischen Architektur des zwanzigsten Jahrhunderts, in Die Kche: Zur Kulturgeschichte eines architektonischen, sozialen und
imaginativen Raums, ed. Elfie Miklautz, Herbert Lachmayer, and Reinhard Eisendle
(Vienna, Cologne, and Weimar: Bhlau, 1999): 1747; 35.
10 See the essay by Christina Sonderegger in this volume.
11 Alexandra Binnenkade, Eine Kche soll freundlich und inspirierend sein. Daraus
entstehen die guten Mens Werbung und Widerstand zum Thema der Einbaukche,
in: Perlon, Petticoats und Pestizide: Mensch-Umwelt-Beziehung in der Region Basel
der 50er Jahre, ed. Arne Andersen (Basel and Berlin: Reinhardt, 1994): 150153; 151.
71
12 The motto of the essay by Alexandra Binnenkade comes from Was Basler Frauen
von ihrer Kche halten. Eine Umfrage des Basler Frauenvereins, ausgewertet von Karl
Wunderle, Wirtschaft und Verwaltung 22 (1963): 738; 36.
13 Trnkle, Neue Wohnhorizonte, 749.
14 Janet L. Wolff, Kaufen Frauen mit Verstand? Ein Leitfaden zum Verstndnis der
Frau von heute und zur Beeinflussung ihrer Kaufwnsche (Dsseldorf: Econ, 1959):
183.
15 Today, practically every household has a refrigerator; over ninety per cent have
their own washing machine and an electric or gas stove. See Alphons Silbermann, Die
Kche im Wohnerlebnis der Deutschen. Eine soziologische Studie (Opladen: Leske +
Budrich, 1995): 8385.
16 Ullrich Hellmann, Knstliche Klte: Die Geschichte der Khlung im Haushalt,
Werkbund-Archiv, vol. 21 (Giessen: Anabas, 1990): 240.
17 Cited in Arne Andersen, Der Traum vom guten Leben. Alltags- und Konsumgeschichte vom Wirtschaftswunder bis heute (Frankfurt am Main and New York:
Campus, 1999): 96.
18 Trnkle, Neue Wohnhorizonte, 751.
19 Hellmann, Knstliche Klte, 261.
20 On developments in Switzerland, see Philipp Gysin and Thomas Poppenwimmer,
Die Geburt der Selbstbedienung in der Schweiz oder die Rationalizierung des
Verkaufs, in Andersen, Perlon, Petticoats und Pestizide, 154156.
21 From an early critique of the consequences of the self-service shop in the United
States, quoted in Hellmann, Knstliche Klte, 263.
22 See Eva Stille, In Keller und Kammer: Vorratswirtschaft frher, in Andritzky,
Oikos, 215226.
23 Hellmann, Knstliche Klte, 263.
24 Electrolux advertisement for deep freezers, using the slogan What does your
leisure time have to do with deep freezing?, Interieur 12, no. 4 (1966).
25 Trnkle, Neue Wohnhorizonte, 755.
26 Silbermann, Die Kche im Wohnerlebnis der Deutschen, 66.
27 Judy Wajcman, Technik und Geschlecht: Die feministische Technikdebatte (Frankfurt am Main and New York: Campus, 1994), 136; originally published as Feminism
Confronts Technology (University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press,
1991). More on this subject can be found in the essay by Marion von Osten.
28 Binnenkade, Eine Kche soll freundlich und inspirierend sein, 153.
29 Rita Mielke, Die Kche. Geschichte, Kultur, Design (Berlin: Feierabend: 2004): 24.
30 [Editor], Die moderne Kche: das Cockpit der Wohnung, Das Wohnen 48, no.
11 (November 1973): 311.
31 Trnkle, Neue Wohnhorizonte, 758.
32 Quoted in Ulrich Conrad, Programme und Manifeste zur Architektur des 20.
Jahrhunderts, Bauwelt Fundamente, vol. 1 (Braunschweig and Wiesbaden: Vieweg,
1981): 149152; 149.
33 Sociologists were among the most radical critics of architecture and urban planning. See e.g. Alexander Mitscherlich, Die Unwirtlichkeit unserer Stdte: Anstiftung
zum Unfrieden (Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 1965).
34 Hanisch and Widrich, Architektur der Kche, 3839.
35 Pamphlet from Elektra Bregenz, 1971.
36 Hasso Gehrmann, Biologik und absolute Relativitt, typescript, 2004.
37 Otl Aicher, Die Kche zum Kochen. Das Ende einer Architekturdoktrin (Munich:
Callwey, 1982). See also: Michael Andritzky, Gemeinsam statt einsam: Otl Aicher
und die Kchenphilosophie von bulthaup, in Andritzky, Oikos, 136138. Otl
Aicher (19221991), Graphic artist, designer, and author, co-founder and, from 1962 to
1964, Rector of the Academy of Design in Ulm. In 1972 he became renowned for his
pictograms for the Olympic Games in Munich. His work in creating the design image
of companies like Braun, Lufthansa, and ZDF has been no less groundbreaking.
38 Aicher, Die Kche zum Kochen, 6.
39 Josef Frank, Der Volkswohnungspalast: eine Rede, anlsslich der Grundsteinlegung, die nicht gehalten wurde, Der Aufbau 1, no. 7 (August 1926): 107111; 109.
40 H[ans] Bisch, Wie verschnern wir die Arbeit der Hausfrau?, Bauen + Wohnen
11, no. 1 (January 1957): 2930.
41 Helmut Krauch, Die Kche der 70er Jahre, in Andritzky, Oikos, 133135; 133.
42 Elisabeth Leicht-Eckhardt, Ausstattungsvarianten und Nutzungsformen von
Kchen vom achtzehnten Jahrhundert bis heute, in Miklautz, et al., Die Kche,
161206; 200.
43 Trnkle, Neue Wohnhorizonte, 765.
72
74
Gert Khler
The Kitchen Today. And a Little Bit Yesterday. And Tomorrow, Too, Of Course.
On Kitchen Styles and Lifestyles
A well-known writer in his field drives his daughter off to her university, and finds himself telling her friends while sitting around
the table at the local Italian place how hed given her a hand-made
cookbook containing their mutual favorite recipes, to accompany
her on her lifes path. Reaction: amazement all around. Not so much
because the man could cook. But to have all your favorite recipes
compiled as a personal cookbook: Wow!!!
The writer, however, began to brood: what was so remarkable,
possibly even strange, about that? That he was encouraging his
daughter to cook? That you need to learn how to do something in
order to do it well? That he had little confidence in the student dining hall? That here was a worried father afraid his daughter might
fall prey to bulimia or its opposite? Whatever they might have been
thinking, the real reason for his giving his daughter the cookbook
was something different: he simply did not want to let the old
recipes die out.
Apparently, the moral goes, the world of the hearth and home
and children still has the power to surprise and amaze, despite the
fact that relevant magazines have already written the book on better
living and eating, and always under the banner of the newest trends.
Which has produced a strange kind of ignorance. The newest trend
happens roughly once a year; kitchens themselves are designed for
twenty years. Which means that only one in every twenty occupants
in Germany works in a modern kitchen, and the other nineteen, by
contrast, are left to their own devices in unmodern ones. The embittered housewife stands over her pots on the stove, stirring their contents half-heartedly because shes been banned from modernity ...
Or else it doesnt matter to her because even after a year she still
hasnt gotten used to most of todays appliances which would suggest that perhaps she doesnt really need them ...?
76
comes straight out of the good old days of the German Democratic
Republic. It leaves open the question whether this preparation
simply means unpeeling the plastic off a frozen pizza or slipping a
TV dinner into a microwave, or actually cooking a side of roast beef
with the aid of red wine, currant jelly, and cream, and serving it
along with mashed potatoes (real potatoes actually peeled and
mashed!) and a side of hand-sliced (!) green beans sauted in butter
and summer savory. The vague phrasing of nutritional supplement
suggests bad experiences.
Not necessarily cooking, but communicating examining this
jumble of ideas, we can just begin to make out what a typical
kitchen of today is. It is more than the sum of its appliances and
functions, which was assumed for the Frankfurt Kitchen of the
twenties, the epitome of the functional kitchen. In fact, its functionality was all show; the kitchen itself was miles away from the
real thing, as was amply demonstrated at the time in an extensive
study.2
Todays kitchen has a considerably higher range of appliances
than before, but it is far less suited to its original purpose, i. e.
cooking. It may in fact be geared more for anticipated communication, even if not necessarily between men and women. As everyone knows, at parties everyone ends up sooner or later in the
kitchen. Along with all the new appliances and additional space
comes an increase in pre- or partly prepared foods that in fact
interfere with the kitchens real purpose: cooking. The appliances
make cooking more convenient, and the space makes it even
more fun which may be why hardly anyone does it anymore.
Most people have two different modes of behavior: whipping
up quick meals during the week and using expensive cookbooks
and gadgets for their nutritional preparation on the weekends.
An odd phenomenon indeed, one worth looking at more
closely.
Gauging the Bandwidth
Ill begin by examining our object of desire, the contemporary
kitchen, in terms of two prototypes that could not be more different
from each other. On the one side of the spectrum we have the traditional-romantic kitchen, which is particularly nicely illustrated
by Christopher Alexander in his A Pattern Language:
Think a lot about yourself in the kitchen, the other people you
live with, and what kinds of activities are important. Kitchens
like all other rooms are composed of centers .... Each one ...
will receive your full attention as to its own organization and
how it relates to the ones already in place. In the end they will all
support each other in a collective strength which gives you,
whether your kitchen is small or large, modest or high end, a
comfortable place to work and just be.... The table will be the
first and most important center. It will be where you share meals,
talk, work, and relax with a cup of coffee. Even if you can have
only a small table, it should be in the best position, a place where
you really want to be because of light, view, and a sheltered position in regard to traffic in the room. The table is the source of
pleasure and of practical work together. A low-hanging lamp
provides a pool of light in the evening which will be more com77
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81
82
84
that Alexanders kitchen emanates in the photographs. The difference would be immediately noticeable.
Another point is that the young people in Silbermanns study
will naturally gradually become older and then, a strange metamorphosis, they will begin to prefer the traditional kitchen! Even
if that were not the case, if the younger people were to maintain
their preferences in old age, too, then the devotees of the traditional
kitchen would certainly die out which is not the case: the traditional kitchen remains quite popular, as a visit to any kitchen department store will show. The desire for wholeness only increases
with age and seeks out familiar forms which are not so familiar in
fact, since it was the modern kitchen that one knew in ones
youth (which unduly abridges sociological findings, but is nevertheless remarkable as a phenomenon). The familiar is apparently
just as much a projected fiction as is the modern. After all, brushed
steel (the sandblasted banisters feel satiny-smooth, raves
Sobek15), microprocessors, and countersunk door knobs are more
than just functions; they stand for something. With all their satinysmoothness, they conspicuously display how practical, functional,
and future-oriented they are. These home owners are firmly
planted in the here-and-now and want to make sure that everyone
knows it.
The kitchen as a site for self-fashioning and display, where it is
lifestyle that gets foregrounded rather than the capacity and technological facilities for nutritional preparation. This is a luxury issue,
no question about it. People who have difficulty even buying a stove
for cooking and finding room for it will take what they can get.
Design only enters the picture when surplus has become the rule.
In this respect a great deal really has changed since the days of
the Frankfurt Kitchen. Then, a stove for cooking was installed
and almost ostentatiously made to fit in. The fitted kitchens of the
fifties and sixties underscored this: with prefab furniture installed,
there was little room for anything else, and the space was used one
hundred percent. The factory of the housewife was set until new
possibilities brought with them new needs. As Michael Andritzky
summarizes: The working kitchen is out, and the kitchen is opening
itself up again as a living space. Its sensory qualities have been rediscovered, but are hardly used: no one remembers how to cook
anymore. The nostalgic longing for the lost warmth of the fire is
reflected in the new interior dcor the functional kitchen with
crown glass. A society of affluence has taken root; the days of
pinching pennies are over.16
Coming Soon . . .
Social realities reflected in kitchen design can be documented to
the present day and are nothing to be particularly surprised about.
The newest trend has been to shift from a permanent, static fitted
kitchen to a modularized one. Although it sounds like just a
catchy term for the fact that refrigerators and dishwashers are separate appliances, this actually has to do with something that intersects with the desire for more space, for the open kitchen: the
needs of the modern nomad who, fleeing the specter of unemployment, must move from one city to the next, or at least from apartment to apartment. The modularized kitchen basically means that
kitchen furniture, which we earlier on gave a half-life of twenty
85
years, now in these modern times tend to outlast the average length
of occupancy in an apartment or house. Flexibility is everything,
and as long as we are being hounded by the Furies of unemployment, then at least the kitchen, our homely hearth, will preserve the
sense of continuity. Finally we are seeing the actualization of the
1920s avant-garde dream, the dream of the modern nomad, as formulated by Ludwig Hilberseimer: In case one must move house, a
moving van is no longer necessary; all one needs to pack now are
suitcases.17
The newest concept from the Bulthaup company, which Otl
Aicher used to design for in his day, goes a step further. Now or
better: the day after tomorrow, when we will have more room
we can have more than just modules, we can have our own kitchen
wall, installed in front of the existing one. Previously, kitchen planning was dictated mainly by the floor plan. With Bulthaup b3, the
kitchen evolves from the wall, or more specifically from the functional wall. Furniture and horizontal panels can now for the first
time be freely suspended from it. All Bulthaup b3 elements such as
cupboards, sideboards, lights, and appliances become functional
carriers within a creative overall plan of the wall. From a technical
perspective, the functional wall is a highly stable steel skeleton ....18
though hardly as easy to take with you as Hilberseimers suitcase
was.
The increased application of computer technologie will turn
everyday life in the kitchen upside down. Intelligent networked
household appliances will take over burdensome routine work.
There are already prototypes for intelligent refrigerators. A touchscreen allows kitchen appliances like the stove and the dishwasher to
be centrally controlled. The screenfridge can download videomails
or recipes from the internet. It oversees expiration dates and automatically organizes what needs to be restocked from the supermarket online or by fax.19
How will history continue? One thing we can be sure of is that
industry will go on inventing machines that make physical labor
easier for the housewife or househusband by encumbering intellectual instead of sensory faculties she or he will have to comprehend
the operating instructions after all. Machines that increasingly are
being designed for multiple uses and thus conform to the trend in
kitchens: mobility and multifunctionality: We will have to rethink
leisure and work, which means likewise that we will have to redesign the space in our houses. For me, the kitchen/ home office is
an ideal foundation for this new thinking. With the help of new
electronic components and even new materials, such a kitchen could
no doubt be mutifunctionally designed so that it can be used both
for cooking and as a modern office space.20
The Kitchen Office as a Vision of the Future?
Cynics can make their own calculation: a home for living and working, with a kitchen of variously functioning appliances, serves as little for cooking as the office does for work. In times of structural
mass unemployment we can afford little more than a studio apartment the freelancer meets the multifunctional kitchen, modularized for the quick move.
And here we would find ourselves back where the children once
did their homework at the kitchen table while Mother brandished
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89
and then through that of the housing development, Mays suburban satellite orbiting around the city. What was originally considered a building block of the minimal existence home, a beneficial
measure for reducing the enormous housing shortages in cities, became a trap for the housewife. The few square feet of rationalized
space made it imposssible to do much more in it than cook, uncoupled from the the family, who were waiting in the next room for
their meal to be served. The emergency measure had become a dismal standard.21
The liberation of the housewife was hastened (if unintentionally)
by Otl Aichers 1982 Kche zum Kochen. Here liberation had to
do quite simply with the increase in floor space mentioned earlier.
Anyone who had a lot of space, enough so that he could install one
of Aichers kitchens, would naturally feel less functionalized: Otl
Aicher did not especially design his ideal communication-oriented
kitchen with either men or women in mind. But he succeeded in
stripping off the corset of the post-war kitchen, in which more
women than men on average were confined.22
And what sort of kitchen belongs to the respected author mentioned
at the beginning of this essay whom, perhaps significantly, we discovered not at home but in an Italian restaurant? After all we have
learned so far, we might find him in a technologically well equipped
but cozy kitchen la Alexander, albeit of a somewhat different aesthetic mold: the elevated rustic kitchen would be too much ...
In fact he prepares his traditional househusband fare those
remarkable hamburgers! in a home office/living room/kitchen.
And even today he still has not figured out how to work all the
devices.
Percentage of those surveyed who undertake the following activities in the kitchen
cooking/preparing meals
eating breakfast
holding conversations other
than during mealtimes
eating dinner
eating lunch
listening to the radio/to music
reading newspapers/magazines
repairing
writing activities
mending and ironing
laundry washing/drying/folding
polishing/caring for shoes
pursuing hobbies
reading books
talking on the telephone
playing with children
playing games with other adults
doing homework
percentage sum
total
90
west
east
men
97 %
83 %
83 %
83 %
79 %
75 %
67 %
59 %
52 %
51 %
44 %
38 %
38 %
34 %
33 %
29 %
26 %
19 %
986 %
women
most common
least common
22 The return of the kitchen as an inspiring, poetic space for a variety of activities,
from cooking and eating, to having discussions, communicating, working, and simply
passing time.
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92
Christina Sonderegger
Individuals planning a kitchen today deal with exclusive manufacturers and fancy designer names, engage in precious materials, surface textures, and high-tech appliances. The kitchen has become a
showpiece and status symbol. Grappling with norms and standards
is unimaginable in this day and age. In the late fifties and sixties,
however, the question of standardized norms was a core issue in
kitchen architecture in Switzerland. At that time, in Europe,
Switzerland was at the fore in implementing a uniform authoritive
norm. But it was also particular and thoroughly pugnacious when
discussing issues such as a defined centimeter because the Swiss
norm still differs from foreign dimensions by five centimeters (a little under two inches). Within Europe, Swiss kitchen and appliance
manufacturers held on to their extra bit for decades a piece of
Swiss industrial history that in the era of globalization sounds even
more exotic than it was at the time.
Freestanding and perhaps chance combined appliances and furniture still determined the image of the kitchen far into the
1950s and 60s.
1 Kitchen with Siemens electric cooker,
freestanding refrigerator and small electric
boiler for the sink, 1958.
2 The full electric kitchen with Therma
appliances, late 1940s.
and rationalization had never touched the kitchen. Cumbersome, arduous, and time-consuming, it was the anachronistic fossil in the
modern household. Yet the kitchen did not have to be so old-fashioned. It had been electrified in many cases as early as the thirties.
But, at least in Europe, it simply did not seem to have yet found a
suitable form.
Ergonomics and Industry
In America, the necessity to understand housework as a profession
that could be learned and organized was recognized as early as the
mid nineteenth century. Catherine Beecher (18001878), American
pioneer of the rationalized kitchen, published in her 1869 book The
American Womans Home 1 concrete suggestions for a thoroughly
organized, work-saving kitchen plan. The large kitchen table and
isolated buffet disappeared and were replaced by concentrated,
arranged, interconnected work surfaces that were supplemented
with drawers located under them and shelves on the walls. At the
beginning of the twentieth century, Christine Frederick, an American,
and Erna Meyer, a German, developed on Catherine Beechers
legacy; and influenced by industrial science studies by Frederick
Winslow Taylor (18561915) and Frank B. Gilbreth (18681924),
they advanced kitchens with smaller-scale ground plans and with
appliances and furnishings arranged more sensibly according to the
most common work procedures.2
The Forerunner of the Fitted Kitchen
While in Switzerland in the forties the first forerunner of the fitted
kitchen appeared with individual combination sinks, the American
housewife was already working in a standardized, dynamic-sounding streamlined kitchen. Innovations may have occurred in the
twenties and thirties regarding rationalization and standardization,
but the war abruptly put a stop to this. The twenty-one sq. ft.
Frankfurt Kitchen, developed by Margarete Schtte-Lihotzky
and Ernst May in 1926 and incorporated into the New Frankfurt
workers settlements, was organized in terms of work efficiency
and industrial criteria. With its continuous work surfaces and
fitted wall cupboards, it provided a small laboratory for the
woman, who increasingly had obligations outside of the home.
The rationalist philosophy of the Frankfurt Kitchen paved the
96
way for the fitted kitchen. Despite its undeniable advantages regarding efficiency and hygiene, it would still be some time before
it was accepted. The war and sluggish technological development
contributed to the fact that, as a rule, kitchens at the end of the
forties still consisted of individual, freestanding furniture and appliances.
This out-of-date arrangement was gradually replaced by the
combination sink. A refrigerator, boiler, and cupboards were combined beneath a continuous covering of chrome steel with an embedded sink. The cooker was added separately to the combination
at first, until Therma AG and Franke metals works in Aarburg put
the first combination with integrated cooker on the market in 1951.
The sink combination presented a significant step toward the development of the fitted kitchen as far as unity and compactness were
concerned. However, it was different from later fitted kitchens that
presented a system of standardized, interchangeable single units
constructively seen as furniture available in diverse sizes and variations. A basic difference becomes apparent when comparing examples of kitchen and home furniture. While furniture in living areas
and work spaces consisted mainly of freestanding single units,
kitchen furniture, on the other hand, was increasingly unified,
compacted, and pushed to the wall.
97
stationary objects needed to be carefully considered and had to include the possibility of a certain amount of variability. In addition,
the simple replacement of a defective appliance was guaranteed for
decades.
Swiss Kitchen Norms
The Swiss kitchen norm is 556090 cm: the width of a unit is 55 cm
(21.6 in), its depth 60 cm (23.6), and height 90 cm (35.4 in). With the
longitudinal dimension of 55 cm, the Swiss kitchen differs from the
standard functional ISO norm, which has 10 cm unit intervals.
Different from the unit height and depth, this units width has no
relation to bodily dimensions or with the tasks to be performed; it
represents a purely calculated solution.10
Hans Hilfiker derived the Swiss conventions dimensions from
the nature of kitchen work and from the statistics of bodily dimen-
sions. The height of the unit for standing work was not easily determined as the requirements of the work table depended on the task.
Thus the best average working height of a cooker was about 85 cm
(33.5 in), and for the sink, which as a rule was set 16 cm into the
cover panel, at 92 cm (36.2 in). The need for two different heights
was abandoned in favor of a standard height. Because an oven can be
slightly higher without any major disadvantages, but a sink that is
too low causes uncomfortable stooping, a compromise was made at
90 cm. The depth of the unit at 60 cm resulted from its various functions and the average length of the arm. Hilfiker did not derive the
units width from either bodily dimensions or task requirements,
but arrived at it by taking the highest level of economic efficiency
into account: a sensible standardization should be based on economy, and since the square is the form which possesses the smallest
perimeter for a given surface area, it had to form the surface unit.11
100
He acquired the optimal side length of this square in this way: From
the 60 cm (23.6 in) unit depth, he subtracted 1 cm of distance to the
wall, which is necessary to compensate for unevenness in the wall
and to guarantee a hygienic alignment of the covering. Two centimeters accounted for the coverings projection, which served as a
drip catch. A further two were left for the materials thickness. All
this ultimately resulted in a clearance depth and a unit width of
55 cm (21.6 in).
Defining the width as a spatial and not as an axial dimension is
important for the structure and the easy-to-handle construction kit
system. Determining a standard dimension for the niche is decisive
for the installation and replacement of appliances. A fitted kitchen is
constructed as a type of case, where a cooker, refrigerator, or dishwashing machine can be easily inserted into the gaps in the structure
without any further constructional measures.
Since the use of a conventional dimension grows with its distribution, Hilfiker was active in getting other significant Swiss firms
in the industry to assume the conventional dimensions of 556090,
first defined as the Therma norm. In just a few years, almost every
appliance and kitchen manufacturer more or less willingly adopted
the new regulations and accepted the Therma norm as the general
Swiss industrial norm. Other interesting circles teamed up with the
pioneer firms Therma and Franke to form an association called
SINK, Schweizerische Industriekommission zur Normung der
Kche [Swiss Industrial Commission for Kitchen Standardization].
They launched the Therma norm under the term SINK norm. It is
not possible, despite thorough research and discussion, to clearly
determine when exactly the SINK norm became authoritative in
Switzerland.12 But what is known is that Hilfiker addressed the
problem of standardization in 1958, right at the onset of his
101
103
104
105
106
108
109
1 Catherine E. Beecher and Harriet Beecher Stowe, The American Womans Home.
Or, Principles of Domestic Science (New York: Ford, 1869).
2 On the subject of organization and technical modernization of the household, see
Christine Frederick, The New Housekeeping. Efficiency Studies in Home Management
(New York, 1913), and Christine Frederick, Household Engineering. Scientific Management in the Home (Chicago, 1919). Irene M. Witte translated Christine Fredericks
writings into German and published them as Heim und Technik in Amerika in 1928 in
Berlin. Erna Meyer wrote a further instruction book on kitchen reform titled Der neue
Haushalt. Ein Wegweiser zu wirtschaftlicher Hausfhrung, which in 1929 went into its
thirty-eighth printing.
3 Therma advertisement, 1953.
4 Das Ideale Heim 24 (5 May 1950): 209.
5 Leben, Wohnen im Geist der Zeit (Winterthur, 1961): 78.
6 AEG advertisement, 1950s.
7 Das Ideale Heim 24 (5 May 1950): 209.
8 See Hans Neuburg, Einheit von Funktion, Konstruktion, Formgebung und Information, Neue Grafik 15 (1963): 238.
9 See my unpublished M. A. thesis Hans Hilfiker Annherung an einen Gestalter,
submitted to Prof. S. von Moos, Institute of Art History, University of Zurich, 1993.
10 Discussion with Hans Hilfiker, 3 September 1991.
11 Hans Hilfiker, Apparateindustrie und Kchenbau. Nach einem Referat von Dipl.
Ing. H. Hilfiker, Schwanden, an der Jahrestagung des CECED, Conseil Europen de la
construction lectro-domestique, vom 27. Juni 1967 in Montreux (Schwanden: Therma
AG, n.d.).
12 The source material of todays KVS (Schweizer Kchen-Verband) does not go back
to the early days. Even Hans Hilfiker was not able to comment clearly on this, nor
Peter Rthlin, KVSs long-time manager.
13 Letter from the VSFE to the Bundesamt fr Aussenwirtschaft (Federal Foreign
Trade Office), 22 October, 1986, KVS archive.
14 Hans Hilfiker, Apparateindustrie und Kchenbau.
15 Ibid.
16 In a statement by Peter Rthlin, former manager of KVS March 2005.
17 From a discussion with Samuel Strahm, commercial sales manager for construction, Electrolux AG (Switzerland), 1 January 2005.
18 Vom Einzelapparat zur ganzheitlich im Baukastenprinzip geplanten Kche, interview with Hans Hilfiker, Betriebsfhrung 65/30, no. 7 (July 1965): 193197.
19 Hans Hilfiker, Khlschrankbau auf neuen Wegen, Electro-Revue 57, no. 26
(1965): 13021304.
20 See Therma Jahresbericht 69/1975, 3ff.
21 Angelus Eisinger, Stdte bauen. Stdtebau und Stadtentwicklung in der Schweiz
19401970 (Zurich: gta, 2004): 228ff.
22 See the Gute Form Archive, Design Collection, Museum of Design Zurich, as
well as Peter Erni, Die gute Form: Eine Aktion des Schweizerischen Werkbundes.
Dokumentation und Interpretationen (Baden: LIT Lars Mller, 1983).
23 Ernst Ghner AG, ed., Ghner Normen (Basel, 1950): 221ff.
24 Sigmund Widmer, Ernst Ghner (19001971): Bauen in Norm (Meilen, Switzerland: Verein fr wirtschaftshistorische Studien, 2000. Schweizer Pioniere der Wirtschaft
und Technik 49), 6667.
25 Wieviel Kche braucht der Mensch? Eine Trendstudie der Schweizer Kchenbauer
zur Standortbestimmung der Kche und ihrem zuknftigen Stellenwert, 1982, KVS
archive.
26 Statement by Peter Rthlin, former manager of KVS, March 2005. Germany first
implemented a comprehensive norm at the beginning of the seventies: the first DIN
68901 norm, Kcheneinrichtungen Koordinierungsmasse fr Kchenmbel und
Kchengerte, has January 1973 as date of issue. Further editions: DIN
68901:198111, 198601. European standardization followed 198601 (EN or DIN
EN). DIN 68901:198601 became DIN 68901:199512; the current version is DIN EN
1116:200409. There are additional DINs or EN DINs for safety regulations of
kitchen fittings (furniture, appliances, shelves, work surfaces, etc.).
27 KVS files on the Swiss Measurement System SMS, Oktober 1996, KVS archive.
28 The trade journal Die Kche. Planen und Gestalten gave insight into this discussion in the sixties.
29 Cartel commission letter to the Verband der Schweizerischen Kchenbranche, 13
December 1989, KVS archive.
30 The following statements were taken from Kchenmbel Koordinationsmasse fr
Kchenmbel und Kchengerte SN EN 1116, ed. Schweizerische Normen-Vereinigung SNV (Winterthur, 1996).
31 Bruno Zuppiger, Masskoordination in der Kche: Der Stand im Jahr 2001, typescript, 2 December 2000, KVS archive.
110
Brigitte Kesselring
Another special feature affects Switzerland: traditionally, complete kitchen furnishings including all appliances are part of a rented
apartment. As early as the fifties this had consequences on the development of authoritative norms, since in the course of growing industrial production, manufacturers of furniture and appliance were
dependent on a coordinated system of dimensions.1 There are other
basic conditions in this so-called rental segment than in private
housing architecture. Thus, investors, developers, and decorators are
more conservative and reserved when it comes to converting to new
residential forms and apartment furnishings: safe, measurable values,
cost and usage ratios, experience, durability, and rate of return are
considerations that have priority. Buildings are constructed for
anonymous users, the decision makers will not live in those apartments.
Private construction, meaning single-family houses and condominiums, however, is informed by individual values and attitudes,
individual needs and demands, because the decision maker is also
the user. Respectively, other standards and requirements have to be
taken into consideration during the planning.
In Switzerlands neighboring countries, for example in Germany
or Austria, the kitchen is an arrangement like any other, and is
regardless whether it is a rented apartment, condominium, or private
home purchased individually. The kitchen here is subject far more
to the pressures of marketing and consumption, since manufacturers
have to advertise to win the favor of a broad consumer base. That
only works if there is an attractive offer: attractive regarding modern
appearance and affordable prices in the rental sector; at the luxury
level, appearance, quality, and market image matter. The kitchen also
has a short life span in the rental segment. It will not be used forever
and, in Switzerland at least, it is not designed according to quality
standards to last for decades. Kitchen parts complete with appliance
furnishings, so-called kitchen blocks, are offered in this segment by
trade markets or the do-it-yourself track. There are thus very different standards at the quality and planning level in these markets.
Minimum standards at the lower price level and, as in the Swiss market, high standards in the luxury segment.
The Human Being as a Factor of Influence
Looking for the important factors relevant for the planning of a
kitchen and its arrangement in the floor plan, the human ultimately
proves to be a central factor of influence: kitchen furniture is not a
one-stop product, but a complex system with numerous responsibilities.
1. The kitchen is a central part of the entire home concept and has to
be considered during the development of the floor plan.
As a rule this is one of the architects responsibilities.
2. The kitchen is not an arrangement that can be placed freely or at
will, but part of a buildings services and firmly linked to the entire installation network (water, electricity, gas, ventilation, etc.).
The architect and building planner are responsible for placement
and the type of connections. The connections themselves are
subject to their own norms, in some cases, also official regulations.
114
115
Stock
Storage
Sink area
Preparation area
Cooking and baking
116
7 A kitchen design that optimally conforms to the workflow saves time and
energy. Below, an optimized configuration
subdivided into work centers according
to the Dynamic Space concept (2003,
Blum).
117
Kitchen Types
The kitchen is typologized according to standard floor plans that
have existed since the first norms and which are today seen as
classic solutions. These are based on optimal work procedures via
the logical position and sequence of the individual function centers,
as well as a defined minimum gap between these individual zones.
Galley or Corridor Kitchen: Compact design solution with additional work surface, minimum dimensions of 2 x 4 x 2 ft. (depth
of cabinets x traffic area x depth of cabinets). Short work paths
and lots of storage space. Surface area: approx. 86 sq. ft.
10
11
12
13
118
washing
cooking
storeroom G
preparing
countertops
cooking
washing
cleaning
dishwashing
roasting
refrigeration
storeroom L
provisions
preparing
storeroom G
dishes
119
roasting
refrigeration
countertops
today is still a good starting basis for the concept of an open largescale kitchen. Bulthaup developed a kitchen workbench which they
presented and have since modernized in stainless steel in the system 20 product series.
The transformed philosophy brought on by the discussion on
cooking practices and tools, the orientation toward the professional
sector and the inclusion of the user or several users triggered much,
which now thirty years later, is just beginning to get established as a
wider standard in the private sector.
Orientation toward the users work procedures and demands and
his or her (cooking) practices
Orientation toward the professional sector, which sets the tone
for the furniture, materials, equipment and cooking
The kitchen in the rental segment remains oriented toward an average of the familiar standards.
Storage Space and Ergonomics
The new relative importance of the kitchen and cooking, a new outlook on habitation, and the opening of the kitchen into the living
space have made the idea of storage a central issue over the past few
years. For decades the need to maximize storage had kitchen furniture rising to the ceiling. The more design and lifestyle values became a priority, the more the volume of massive cabinets were
placed in question. Yet where to put the pots, pans, and dishes,
cutlery, tools, small appliances, and other various assorted goods?
In 1998/99, Julius Blum GmbH in Austria tackled the issue and
commissioned the Institut fr kotrophologie [Institute of
Domestic Science] in Kranzberg (D) to perform a study that would
establish a households need for storage. On this basis, a so-called
120
were analyzed and compiled into a total concept for modern kitchen
design under the term Dynamic Space. The most important principles of such design are:
Include sufficient storage space (based on demand assessment
and checklists)
Plan the kitchen in terms of five zones (stock, storage, sink area,
preparation area, cooking/baking)
Avoid doors in lower cupboards (drawers and pull-outs obviate
unnecessary stooping and clearing)
Include fully extendable pull-outs (these provide unrestricted
overview and access)
Bulk supplies should be stored with their specific purposes in mind.
By organizing these five function zones according to lifestyle and
household dimensions, each individual zone can be furnished and
be functional as a work center of the shortest possible work
paths.
Current Aims and Tendencies
In accord with its growing significance, the kitchen is increasingly
being situated in a preferred location within the floor plan and no
longer banished to the nether regions. Views and relation to the rest
122
of the interior and exterior and the integration in the home environment have become important planning factors.
Making the kitchen into a living space requires a new living quality from arrangement of the home and its total concept. Pull-outs
that extend gently and quietly and close on their own, or noise-absorbing buffers on the doors are marks of a new comfort level for
furniture. Noise reduction is an important issue for furniture and
appliances.
The lighting concept of a room today needs to take into account
both functional and atmospheric lighting modes. Modern lighting
systems, mini fluorescent tubes, or halogen light systems, produce
white, glare-free light where it is needed, and the ambience of the
room is showcased. Voluminous cabinets are built into the wall and
appear as a seamless surface; massive wall units give way to transparent glass panels, and the ceramic tiles in the typical Swiss niche have
long been replaced by glass or other plain surfaces.
Todays kitchen usually has more than one cook in it, and ergonomics plays an enormous role. Ovens at eye-level, dishwashers
installed at a more comfortable height or in upper drawers, refrigerators with individually defined cooling zones, waste disposals with
functional separation systems, and new features under the sink have
displaced earlier basic elements of kitchen design. In the cooking
area, burners arranged in a row are far more functional than the tra-
123
124
Practical Viewpoints
Only actual praxis can show to what degree individual ideas, design
concepts, and theoretical demands can be combined. For this reason,
I have interviewed a number of kitchen design specialists. Their responses demonstrate how different occupations foreground different aspects, which should all ideally be combined in practice.
2930 Kitchen with open entry to the living room (Meyer, Moser, Lanz Architekten,
Zurich): Floorplan; view.
125
3536 Ideal kitchen solution with a functional center joined to a kitchen island
(2004, Wiesmann Kchen, Zurich): View;
floor plan.
126
127
So what?
There are ergonomic, design, and engineering principles that have influenced kitchen design for decades.
The execution of a design takes place more or less strictly, more
or less creatively, and more or less practically and is dependent
on the human being as a factor of influence.
Tried-and-true, praxis-oriented measurement systems make planning considerably easier. Particularly when combining furniture and
appliances, appliance installation according to the SMS system is
simple to plan and guarantees universality.
Kitchen planning is quite individual. In designing a kitchen, cooking
plays a role.
Depending on who is designing the kitchen (architect, interior
architect, kitchen engineer, designer, or developer), the same
basic requirements for the same floor plan will produce different
results. An exception to this is in standardized home building and
the building of rental units.
Someone who loves to cook will design a kitchen differently
from someone who (only) loves to eat.
Current systems of standards provide the foundations for planning
standard kitchens. Technological developments, changes in values,
new determining factors from the environments have little influence
on these foundations and when they do it is after considerable delay.
Individual know-how and the quality of the planner are decisive factors here. Otl Aicher commented in 1982 in the foreword to his
book Die Kche zum Kochen [The Kitchen For Cooking]: Designers who do not cook should not be let near kitchens.14 The same
thing should hold for planners.
The value of the kitchen and of cooking as well as that of nutritional
habits have a decisive influence on planning.
The basic value of a kitchen is defined at the room layout stage.
In the planning and designing of details, individual cooking and
eating habits as well as aesthetics must play a decisive role.
There is really nothing keeping a planner from following ergonomic
principles: kitchen manufacturers and suppliers offer many versatile
options for the actual execution of a kitchen plan, including fully extendable drawers and pull-outs, height-adjustable bases, wider
openings for doors, and diverse types of furniture and organization
systems. In practice, however, the fundamentals are often neglected,
whether out of ignorance or because budget or aesthetics are given
preference. That is when people forget that the kitchen is a workshop, to be used day in, day out and over the course of decades.
128
129
Ghostly Silence
The Unemployed Kitchen
uous than ever that the new communication technologies have now
taken the lead and are supplanting the beautiful new image of the
kitchen.
Does this anti-kitchen trend in advertising result simply from
shrewd business decisions being made in the upper echelons of
multinational corporations and so-called saturated markets?
Or can the disappearance of kitchens from our everyday image
worlds be explained by those reports from the social sciences that
indicate that the majority of people in the twenty-first century
tend to avoid housework more than any other kind of work? In
any case, this was the conclusion that Arlie Russell Hochschild
came to in a study conducted in the nineties in the United States,
according to which more and more white-collar men and women
felt overwhelmed by their private life, i. e. cooking, household
maintenance, their relationship, and child-care, while everyday
life in the workplace was viewed as a well-organized structure in
which, provided one behaved appropriately, one could count on
recognition and personal advancement.2 It was a world that, unlike the home, seems to function; where there are equal opportunity laws in place; where you get promoted and have legal recourse against discrimination, etc. Even if this might be more
promise than reality, the jargon of attentiveness to workers needs,
an accomplishment of the workers movement, does not exist at
132
133
134
135
making was increasingly understood in terms of the womans affection for her family. Catherine Beechers early efforts to objectify housework and recognize it as a job were reversed in the
course of technologizing the household. Now that women were
seemingly freed by technology from having anything to do, and
instead found themselves according to the logic of the technologizers in a kind of involuntary state of leisure or unemployment,
emotional tasks were foregrounded: decorating the house and providing a cheerful ambience, being a supremely loving and caring
wife and lover, being a new, pedagogically revaluated kind of
mother, and raising children in general. Structural transformations
of the new household labor force were accompanied by an ideology of what it meant to be a housewife. For in the course of industrialization, housework passed through all the stages of restructuring that a company would and was just as much affected by the
technology crisis of the sixties and seventies. This manifested itself
in the kitchen as well, which was now no longer a purely functional space but became again the warm and cozy hearth to which
one could retreat after the days work was done. Being a housewife, as cookbooks and guidebooks of that generation make clear,
was linked to a new social role, that of the waiting, loving, and
nurturing woman.14 A womans qualifications were now social in
nature and no longer couched in terms of Fordism and the science
of management. The performative feat of being a housewife can be
understood to be what Foucault termed a technology of the self,
which holds its subjects to adhering to the appropriate norms, or,
in the case of the housewife, to interiorizing them so thoroughly
that they are no longer recognized as norms.
On the one hand, genders and gender dichotomy are structured
by the separation of public and private spheres and of paid and unpaid labor. On the other hand, the private arena is no less disciplinary in its effects on the subjects acting within it. Just as the Taylorist factory produced the male worker, industrialization created
the female domestic worker. The invisible work in the home was
subject to a far more massive gender affliction than industrial paid
labor, which may have been marked as masculine but nevertheless
promised access for the other sex. Housework, by contrast aside
from the now vanishing images of men who cook, cited at the beginning has never been seen as an attractive field for socially integrat140
ing the sexes. Nor have household activities such as raising children,
caring for the elderly, and preparing food in the kitchen been viewed
as productive activities, although they are all life-support systems in
the truest sense of the word.
The cynical abolishment of housework can be read as the history of disregarding activities that have been naturalized as feminine and as the expression of an abstract and normative concept of
work that ignores everything that does not promise to increase productivity.15 For even the technologization of the household entirely
interiorized the principle that all activities can be optimized in
terms of an industrial science of management. The quantifiable job
performance of industrialization was thus meant to be mirrored in
the labor taking place in the home. The rationalization of housework served to anchor in modernity a new, rationally-acting labor
subjectivity and to project a new woman to be recognized by the
regime of labor and the patriarchy. In the post-modern era she has
been redesigned as an emotional role model and even today women
are steadfastly assumed to have more social competence. The image
of the housewife who cheerfully and lovingly does her job each day
without a boss or commander remains stable and operative. Only in
the seventies did women begin calling at the top of their lungs for a
general strike.
With the new womens movement in the seventies, voices were
raised above all against the assumption that only paid labor, especially that of industrial production, counts as work. The productive
combination of child raising, consumption, and housework on the
one hand and gainful employment on the other was abrogated, and
this was expressed in calls for money for housework. According
to Elisabeth Stiefel, a feminist economist from Cologne, the respective analyses and critiques of reproduction advanced by feminist
economists against the paradigm of industrial production were just
141
Further Reading
Boudry, Pauline, Brigitta Kuster, and Renate Lorenz, eds. Reproduktionskonten flschen! Heterosexualitt, Arbeit & Zuhause.
Berlin: b_books, 1999.
1 The relation between masculinity and the kitchen is traditionally epitomized by the
occupation of the professional chef, which nowadays includes that of the television
chef as well. Cooking was never exclusively the domain of women, but involved the
distinction between a public and paid male profession and an unpaid, private female
condition. If kitchen designs before were oriented to women, they now are conceived with the male professional chef in mind.
2 Arlie Russell Hochschild, The Time Bind: When Work Becomes Home and Home
Becomes Work (New York: Metropolitan Books, 1997).
3 The rationalization, mechanization, and technologization of the kitchen should not
be understood as a purely technological phenomenon. On the contrary, every analysis
of the technologization of household activities is linked to an ideological history that
idealizes this space, the home, as the place of personal freedom, leisure, and absence of
discipline for the gainfully employed, married man.
4 If the formal and informal sectors are considered together, it becomes clear that
women globally work far more than men. This has been proven statistically by various
international surveys, but is rarely discussed. An immigrant woman household worker
cannot afford to hire a cleaning lady, just as single working mothers cannot (see Lydia
Potts, Migrantinnen im Weltmarkt fr Arbeitskraft, in Heute hier Morgen fort:
Migration, Rassismus und die (Un)Ordnung des Weltmarktes, ed. Arbeitsgruppe 501
[Freiburg im Breisgau: Verlag Informationszentrum Dritte Welt et al., 1993], 8487,
and Mascha Madrin, Der kleine Unterschied in hunderttausend Franken, Widerspruch (Zurich) 16, no. 31 (July 1996): 127142.
5 See Judy Wajcman, Feminism Confronts Technology (University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1991).
6 Catherine E. Beecher and Harriet Beecher Stowe, The American Womans Home.
Or, Principles of Domestic Science (New York, Ford, 1869): 318.
7 See Michael Warner, Publics and Counterpublics (New York: Zone Books, 2002): 9.
8 In the Socialist utopias of One Kitchen Houses in Red Vienna, first attempts were
made to collectivize housework and deprivatize the kitchen. This would enable
women to pursue careers as factory workers, secretaries, or telephone operators.
9 Due, paradoxically, to their having the multiple burdens of housekeeping, child care,
and career, women today are still considered supplemental wage earners (supplemental to the male single-income). Even today, on account of their working overtime for society, women around the world earn less than men.
10 See Dolores Hayden, The Grand Domestic Revolution: A History of Feminist Designs for American Homes, Neighborhoods, and Cities (Cambridge, MA and London:
The MIT Press, 1981).
146
11 See Cynthia Cockburn and Ruza First-Dilic, eds., Bringing Technology Home:
Gender and Technology in a Changing Europe (Buckingham, England: Open University Press, 1994).
12 Cynthia Cockburn, Brothers: Male Dominance and Technological Change (London: Pluto Press, 1983).
13 Talcott Parsons, The American Family: Its Relations to Personality and to the Social Structure, in Family Socialisation and Interaction Process, ed. Talcott Parsons and
Robert F. Bates (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1956): 333.
14 See Ruth Schwartz Cowan, The Industrial Revolution in the Home: Household
Technology and Social change in the Twentieth Century, Technology and Culture 17
(1976): 123, and id., More Work for Mother: The Ironies of Household Technology
from the Open Hearth to the Microwave (New York: Basic Books, 1983).
15 See Hannah Arendt, Labor and Fertility, The Human Condition (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1958): 101109.
16 See Elisabeth Stiefel, ber den Zwiespalt zwischen globaler konomie und der
simplen Sorge fr das Leben, Internationale Politik und Gesellschaft (Bonn) 3 (1998):
299309, as well as Elisabeth Stiefel and Marion von Osten, ArbeitArbeitArbeit und
was kommt danach? in Das Phantom sucht seinen Mrder. Ein Reader zur Kulturalisierung der konomie, ed. Justin Hoffmann and Marion von Osten (Berlin: b_books,
1999): 157167.
17 See Bettina Heintz, Eva Nadai, Regula Fischer, and Hannes Ummel, eds. Ungleich
unter Gleichen: Studien zur geschlechtsspezifischen Segregation des Arbeitsmarktes
(Frankfurt am Main and New York: Campus, 1997), as well as Brigitte Young, Asynchronitten der deutsch-deutschen Frauenbewegung, PROKLA 94, 1, no. 24 (1993):
4963.
18 Ulrich Brckling, Susanne Krassmann, and Thomas Lemke, eds., Gouvernementalitt der Gegenwart. Studien zur konomisierung des Sozialen (Frankfurt am Main:
Suhrkamp, 1999).
147
Ren Ammann
To Table! To Table?
In order to understand at what point appliances became necessary in the
kitchen and cutlery was required on the table, we must go a long way back
to the beginnings of mankind.
thyme, salt, and sesame. In the mornings the peasants ate wheat
cakes, and in the evenings they drank whey (Qom) from wooden
cups. On stoves fuelled with animal dung, they cooked lentils as a
soup, mush, or braised in honey. The only crops that grew plentifully in the area around Jerusalem were olives and vines. Archeologists have found hundreds of grape presses. Wine was conserved
with raisins, honey, cardamom, and fruit juice. But not everyone
could afford good juice. Many drank tamad, which was made from
grapes that had already been pressed. When Jesus was on the cross, a
soldier gave him a sponge soaked in this crude beverage. Luther
translated the word tamad as vinegar.
Eating with what?
Simple luncheon (Switzerland, mid-twentieth century):
Soup
Lung ragout
Potato pieces
Dried fruit or salad
152
153
Further Reading
Mellinger, Nan. Fleisch: Ursprung und Wandel einer Lust. Eine kulturanthropologische Studie. (Frankfurt am Main: Campus, 2000).
154
Select Bibliography
Overview
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Andritzky, Michael, ed. Oikos Von der
Feuerstelle zur Mikrowelle: Haushalt
und Wohnen im Wandel. Giessen: Anabas, 1992.
FEMAIL Fraueninformationszentrum
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planen, ausstatten, nutzen [exhibition
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Hittisau & Heimatmuseum Schruns,
2001.
Mielke, Rita. Die Kche: Geschichte,
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and Reinhard Eisendle, eds. Die Kche:
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Rinke, Bettina and Joachim Kleinmanns,
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Cowan, Ruth Schwartz. The Industrial Revolution in the Home. Household Technology and Social Changes in
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Wegweiser zu wirtschaftlicher Hausfhrung. Stuttgart: Franckhsche Verlagsanstalt, 1926.
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158
Further Reading
Illustration Credits
Despite having made every effort to do
so, the editor was unable to locate every
single copyright owner. Upon notification, he is ready to respond to legitimate claims with the appropriate compensation.
Cover
Photograph, Friedrich Engesser
(Therma Fitted Kitchen, 1963)
Foreword
Full-page: Photograph, Ochs-Walde;
Schule fr Gestaltung Basel: Fotoarchiv
Gewerbemuseum Basel
Introduction
Full-page at the beginning: Photograph,
Elliott Erwitt, Elliott Erwitt/Magnum
Photos, Illus. 1: Photograph, Konrad
Wittmer, Suhr, Illus. 23: Photograph,
Klaus Spechtenhauser, Illus. 4: Siemens
Archive, Munich, Illus. 5: Poggenpohl
Group (Schweiz) AG, Littau, Illus. 6:
Hasso Gehrmann private archive
Corrodi
Full-page at the beginning: Photograph,
Hans Finsler, Stiftung Moritzburg,
Halle; gta Archives/Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich,
Illus. 1: Architekturzentrum Wien,
Achleitner Archive, Illus. 2: Baugeschichtliches Archiv der Stadt Zrich,
Illus. 35: Deutsche Kunst und Dekoration, Vol. 9, 19011902, 2005 ProLitteris, Zurich, Illus. 6: Slezsk zemsk
muzeum [Silesian Regional Museum],
Opava, Czech Republic, Illus. 7: Bildarchiv Foto Marburg, Illus. 8: Architekturzentrum Wien, Achleitner Archive,
Illus. 9: Museum fr Kunst und Kulturgeschichte der Stadt Dortmund, Illus. 10: Photograph, Wilhelm Willi, Arbeiterfotobund Zrich; Gretlers Panoptikum zur Sozialgeschichte, Zurich, Illus. 11: Gretlers Panoptikum zur
Sozialgeschichte, Zurich, Illus. 1213:
Catherine E. Beecher, Harriet Beecher
Stowe, The American Womans Home.
Or, Principles of Domestic Science, New
York: Ford, 1869, Illus. 14: Klaus
Spechtenhauser private archive, Illus. 15:
Poggenpohl Group (Schweiz) AG, Littau, Illus. 16: Siemens Archive, Munich,
Illus. 17: Der Baumeister, Vol. 25, 1927,
Illus. 18: Anton Brenner, Der wirtschaftlich durchdachte Plan des Architekten,
Vienna: Ertl, 1951, Illus. 19: Photograph,
Staatliche Bildstelle Berlin, BauhausArchiv, Berlin, Illus. 20: Plan, Mia Ryffel, Illus. 2122: Netherlands Architecture Institute, Rotterdam, Oud Archive,
2005 ProLitteris, Zurich, Illus. 23:
Plan, Mia Ryffel, Illus. 24: Die Form,
Vol. 2, 1927, Illus. 25: Photograph, Collischonn; Sammlungen der Universitt
Spechtenhauser
Full-page at the beginning: Brigitte
Kesselring private archive, Illus. 1: Photograph, Oliver Lang, Illus. 2: Snaidero,
Majano (Italy), Illus. 3: Julius Blum
GmbH, Hchst (Austria), Illus. 4:
Forster Kchen, Arbon (Switzerland),
Illus. 5: Franke Kchentechnik AG,
Aarburg (Switzerland), Illus. 67: Photographs, Michael Wolgensinger; Baugeschichtliches Archiv der Stadt Zrich,
Illus. 8: Schweizerische Bauzeitung, Vol.
67, 1949, Illus. 910: gta Archives/Swiss
Federal Institute of Technology (ETH),
Zurich, Estate of Sigfried Giedion, Illus. 11: Design Collection, Museum of
Design Zurich, Illus. 12: Klaus Spechtenhauser private archive, Illus. 13:
Franke Kchentechnik AG, Aarburg
(Switzerland), Illus. 1415: Photographs,
E. Mller-Rieder; gta Archives/Swiss
Federal Institute of Technology (ETH),
Zurich, Illus. 16: Plan, Mia Ryffel, Illus. 17: Poggenpohl Group (Schweiz)
AG, Littau, Illus. 18: Design, Pierre
Monnerat; Basler Plakatsammlung, Illus. 19: Brigitte Kesselring private
archive, Illus. 20: Audiovisuelles Archiv
MGB, Illus. 2122: Electrolux AG,
Zurich, Illus. 23: Basler Plakatsammlung, Illus. 24: Forster Kchen, Arbon
(Switzerland), Illus. 25: Photograph,
Bernhard Moosbrugger; Elisabeth
Flscher, Kochbuch, Zurich: Eigenverlag
Flscher, 71960, Illus. 26: Forster
Kchen, Arbon (Switzerland), Illus. 27:
Electrolux AG, Zurich, Illus. 2829: Audiovisuelles Archiv MGB, Illus. 30:
159
Khler
Full-page at the beginning: Photograph,
Leonardo Bezzola; Swiss Foundation of
Photography, Winterthur, Illus. 1: Image
Archive, ETH-Bibliothek, Zurich; Illus. 2: Snaidero, Majano (Italy), Illus. 3:
Poggenpohl Group (Schweiz) AG, Littau, Illus. 4: Photograph, Randall
Schmidt, Pattern Language, Illus. 5:
Photograph, Klaus Spechtenhauser, Illus. 6: Photograph, Randall Schmidt,
Pattern Language, Illus. 710: Photographs, Roland Halbe, Roland
Halbe Fotografie, Stuttgart, Illus. 11:
Image Archive, ETH-Bibliothek,
Zurich, Illus. 1213: Karl Richard
Krntzer, Grundrissbeispiele fr
Geschosswohnungen und Einfamilienhuser (Wiesbaden and Berlin: Bauverlag, 41976), Illus. 14: Poggenpohl Group
(Schweiz) AG, Littau, Illus. 15: Photograph, Roland Halbe, Roland Halbe
Fotografie, Stuttgart, Illus. 1619:
Bulthaup GmbH & Co KG, Aich (Germany), Illus. 2021: Alphons Silbermann, Die Kche im Wohnerlebnis der
Deutschen. Eine soziologische Studie
(Opladen: Leske + Budrich, 1995), Illus. 22: Photograph, Konrad Wittmer,
Suhr
Sonderegger
Full-page at the beginning: Photograph, Friedrich Engesser, Illus. 1:
Siemens Archive, Munich, Illus. 2:
Christina Sonderegger private archive,
Illus. 34: gta Archives/Swiss Federal
Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich,
Illus. 5: Christina Sonderegger private
archive, Illus. 6: Siemens Archive, Munich, Illus. 78: Christina Sonderegger
private archive, Illus. 9: Photograph,
Wolf-Bender; Baugeschichtliches
Archiv der Stadt Zrich, Illus. 10:
Kesselring
Full-page at the beginning: Poggenpohl
Group (Schweiz) AG, Littau, Illus. 1:
Forster Kchen, Arbon (Switzerland), Illus. 2: Sanitas Troesch AG, Bern, Illus. 3:
Poggenpohl Group (Schweiz) AG, Littau,
von Osten
Last Page
Select Bibliography
Full-page: Photograph, Klaus Spechtenhauser (Caf-Konditorei Ada, Neubaugasse, Vienna)
Special thanks to
Renate Allmayer-Beck, Andreas
Brndler, Letizia Enderli (Swiss Foundation of Photography, Winterthur),
Friedrich Engesser, Hans-Uli von
Erlach, Christoph Frank (Siemens
Archive, Munich), Esther Fuchs (Baugeschichtliches Archiv der Stadt Zrich),
Hasso Gehrmann, Roland Gretler,
Andreas Huber, Franz Xaver Jaggy
160