Once marginalised as a secondary, purely functional space, kitchens have come to take centre stage in our homes. Our early, more affluent 20th-century forebears may have treasured formal dining rooms, but later generations sidelined these in favour of a multifunctional room where household members love to hang out or entertain guests in an inviting setting. Yet, affectionately referred to now as the heart of the home, kitchens depend on efficient, space-saving appliances to optimise this conviviality.
Kitchen design greatly benefited from the advent of the first fitted version, dreamt up in 1926 by Austrian architect Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky for the New Frankfurt housing programme. German architect Ernst May brought her on board – along with such German starchitects as Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius – and her streamlined, space-saving kitchen with built-in units presaged the fitted kitchens we take for granted today.
Germany has also trailblazed innovative kitchen appl…
