In the early 1900s, electricity and running water were regular in the Western world. As a result of industrialisation, the structure of buildings kept going through an evolution.
The introduction of more advanced kitchen fixtures, modern appliances, cabinets, gas stoves and many more came in this new era. In 1930 however, the kitchen began taking on its current shape.
The kitchen design we are familiar with has its roots in the German school known as the Bauhaus. The Bauhaus designers didn’t see a need to add beauty to functionality. However, they used choice materials, proportions, textures and colours for the functional aspects of the objects.
Cabinets mounted on the wall were built above cabinets with the sink. They didn’t keep decorative designs that could collect dirt. The floors were either rubber or linoleum, so their surfaces could be easily cleaned.
Margaret Schütte-Lihotzee, an Austrian architect, transformed the Frankfurt kitchen and added the “golden triangle” of cookers, fridges and sinks for utmost efficiency.
While these features are common today, this kitchen standard could hardly be seen outside upper-class homes in 1920. The poor and the middle class used stoves in their living rooms. They stored their foodstuffs in different furniture rather than the unified built-in cabinets.
In the 1940s, the kitchens took on sleekness. It was an unnecessary reflection of changing times as World War II occurred. As a result of technological advancements with kitchen gadgets, they have become widespread.
The kitchen design remained practical, simple and plain. Soon, designers began making fancy decorative pieces, leaving brightly coloured and patterned objects on the counter.
By 1950, the kitchens began to look like our present-day kitchens. They became more stylish while maintaining their functionality. Pastel colours and linoleum were the basics. The use of laminates as benchtops was expected, and in cases where they weren’t available, the benchtops were tiled.
While the kitchens were mostly closed from the rooms, the 1950s was the decade that made open-plan kitchens more popular.
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