Abstract
Central to this papers discussion is that a proliferation in kitchen ‘gadgetry’ has led to kitchen benches crowded with appliances: toasters, kettles, rice cookers, bread makers, electric woks and sundry objects that jostle for short-lived fashionable supremacy. Coinciding with this consumerism has been a rapid expansion in dietary choice. A wide range of food is available to the western palate that would have been unheard of a generation ago. Multiculturalism in countries, especially Australia, has led to the broadening of culinary tastes and with that a diversity of cooking techniques. Outside these culinary changes family and domestic structures are evolving. There are more people living alone and more urban apartment dwellings. Eating out has become more accessible and cooking skills are taught less in schools which have impacted upon our cooking behaviours. All these changes suggest an opportunity to question the current paradigm of the domestic cooker. A central aim of the author’s work was to redefine those loose collections of objects and appliances that ‘roam’ the kitchen environment. Through design studio research an alternative proposal is presented here, one that addresses a design specification based upon the criteria of contemporary society. A ‘modular / systems’ approach to cooking equipment has been developed, with a cohesive array of objects that cater for the variability of human need.
Citation
Coxon, S. (2004) The Domestic Cooking Appliance: A Fundamental Re-Evaluation., in Redmond, J., Durling, D. and de Bono, A (eds.), Futureground - DRS International Conference 2004, 17-21 November, Melbourne, Australia. https://dl.designresearchsociety.org/drs-conference-papers/drs2004/researchpapers/186
The Domestic Cooking Appliance: A Fundamental Re-Evaluation.
Central to this papers discussion is that a proliferation in kitchen ‘gadgetry’ has led to kitchen benches crowded with appliances: toasters, kettles, rice cookers, bread makers, electric woks and sundry objects that jostle for short-lived fashionable supremacy. Coinciding with this consumerism has been a rapid expansion in dietary choice. A wide range of food is available to the western palate that would have been unheard of a generation ago. Multiculturalism in countries, especially Australia, has led to the broadening of culinary tastes and with that a diversity of cooking techniques. Outside these culinary changes family and domestic structures are evolving. There are more people living alone and more urban apartment dwellings. Eating out has become more accessible and cooking skills are taught less in schools which have impacted upon our cooking behaviours. All these changes suggest an opportunity to question the current paradigm of the domestic cooker. A central aim of the author’s work was to redefine those loose collections of objects and appliances that ‘roam’ the kitchen environment. Through design studio research an alternative proposal is presented here, one that addresses a design specification based upon the criteria of contemporary society. A ‘modular / systems’ approach to cooking equipment has been developed, with a cohesive array of objects that cater for the variability of human need.