192 KITCHENS. OPINIONS BY OKI SATO AND GABRIELE CENTAZZO

OKI SATO. 1 ‒ In recent years the kitchen’s role has evolved. In the past, our attention was focused particularly on the act of cooking. Now the kitchen zone is assuming a decidedly different weight within the household, and becoming more and more integrated into the dining and living area. Likewise, I think the bedroom and bathroom could join up and become more closely connected with the living room. Furnishings are dispensing with restrictions, and spaces are blending into one another. 2‒ With Scavolini Ki I’ve developed a modular project, based on a wooden shelf and a series of exposed cabinets whose design is echoed in the cooktop, hood, and sink, to establish an impression of uniformity. The idea is very simple, basic – but also rather special. The word ‘ki’ has several meanings in Japanese: container, wood, function, technology, but also feeling and emotion. My kitchen is a synthesis of all this. 3‒ Kitchen aesthetics will be influenced more and more by modern electric appliances. I think the rules of design have suddenly been subverted by the new cooking units: induction cooktops offer previously unimaginable interior design opportunities. Their simple, essential graphics avoid the «professional kitchen» look that comes with gas cookers, enabling new furnishing solutions for the dining area. 4‒ I find it really difficult to offer suggestions, because the composition depends on the characteristics of the space, as well as on personal taste. It’s important to imagine a kitchen where ‘you like to be, even when you’re not cooking’. A place in which you can read a book, listen to music, have a chat. Yes, I think this is good advice for choosing the right kitchen and designing it in the best possible manner. GABRIELE CENTAZZO. 1 ‒ The kitchen has changed in step with the evolution of interior design. And of new lifestyles in the home. Today, rooms have opened up, they’re less separate from one another, and domestic spaces have revealed an increasingly multitasking character. As a result of this trend, the kitchen is often integrated into the living room, concentrating moments of conviviality in a single space. 2‒ Well-being, innovation, timelessness. And ergonomics conceived for a more practical, improved kitchen experience. This, in a nutshell, is my vision. In Valcucine we design without chasing fads, focusing on ‘green’ products made to last both technically and aesthetically. And environmentally friendly: recycling and reuse must be engineered, we shouldn’t unload disposal costs on the future generations. 3‒ Ecology and dematerialisation. Based on these concepts we revolutionised the market, first by designing the lightest and slimmest door in the world (2 mm thick), with an aluminium frame. Then, provoking ferocious comments at the time of the launch, we introduced glass surfaces. Materials that can all be reused. We arrived at aesthetics through function and recyclability, not the other way round. That’s innovation. 4‒ When choosing a kitchen, I recommend that you focus on the two elements that should – if possible – coexist: on the one hand, an operative system with high-performance technology; on the other, a friendly space that favours conviviality. You need to create a meeting place with a very warm atmosphere. It’s our responsibility to conceive the right ambience where the family can all be together.