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By John Ota
Today’s kitchens, invented from a model, tend to be clean, austere and monochrome, designed more for the price of resale than by the kitchen. My wife and I love to cook and entertain, but our kitchen just didn’t paint for us. It was a little narrow and clumsy; things weren’t quite right. We made the decision that it was time to renew. But before I started designing, I sought to know everything about the cuisine: the architectural history of the plans, the old attitudes towards cooking and catering, and the progression of various food and drinks. So I’ve planned in North America to explore wonderful kitchen designs throughout history to be informed about how to improve ours.
John Ota’s kitchen.
I have visited the houses of Georgia O’Keeffe, Julia Child, Louis Armstrong, Elvis Presley and many others. When I could, I even cooked in the kitchen and ate the food that its owners loved. How else would I know if the kitchens worked? I looked for the most productive characteristics in the hope of integrating them into our own most productive kitchen.
Given the importance of cooking today, it is unexpected to think that not long ago, it was the least desirable room of the house, the place where servants and slaves were hidden in heat, smoke and smells. But today it’s the centerpiece, the trophy room, of the whole house.
Over time, kitchens are a wonderful way to be informed about gastronomy, food and architecture. My hope for The Kitchen is that I’m helping others perceive this total story so they can admire the game and their own food. I need readers to feel like they’re going into all those kitchens. So I tried to explain the pleasures of architecture and cooking, as well as the agony of dressing up in hot waffles, pots of boiling water and heavy buckets of coal on five floors. Here are some highlights of my trip.
A kitchen in the peregrine village of Plimoth Plantation.
Pilgrims’ Kitchen, 1627, Plimoth Plantation, Plymouth, Massachusetts
The pilgrims’ kitchen has taken me away from everything I take for granted. Imagine having a message to the outside, like an orchard, from the kitchen. You didn’t eat turnips until you cooked them a few minutes after they were removed from the floor. In addition, it is smart to cut vegetables in a whole new air. The bottom line for me: we can combine the new with the old. Wood adds texture and warmth to a stainless metal kitchen with white lines.
Levine kitchen at the Housing Museum in New York.
Levine Kitchen, 1897, Tenement Museum, New York, New York
The most important thing I learned from the kitchen of Jennie Levine’s apartment is that you don’t want to have a wonderful kitchen to be a smart cook. It is small, so Ms. Levine had to keep her utensils to a minimum. It should be organized and strategic in the elaboration of plans and preparation of meals. The Levines department made me think of my own grandparents, who came to North America without cash and without knowing the language.
Gamble House’s dining room, which shows the characteristic carpentry of the house.
Gamble House Kitchen, 1909, Pasadena, California
Designed through Greene and Greene, Gamble House is a masterpiece of the American Arts and Crafts movement. I was hoping for the lovely carpentry of the house. But the great wonder was the cuisine, with its commitment to cutting-edge design and a progressive attitude towards the staff who worked there. The central island was complex at the moment. I was surprised it looked like a workplace: cooking was a serious affair in Gamble House’s kitchen. The island drawers containing dry foods such as flour and sugar can be opened on either side of the table for easy access no matter where you are.
Georgia O’Keeffe’s home in Abiqui, New Mexico, appeared in AD in 1981. It was reintroduced in 2002.
Georgia O’Keeffe Kitchen, 1949, Abiqui, New Mexico
Painted white with two walls of adobe fixtures, the walls of Georgia O’Keeffe’s kitchen echo the oblong forms of his art. The roof of logs and planks of wood based on herbs reflects the methods of local structure. A strip of windows with white frames extends along a wall of the room. The dining table is an undeniable flat sheet of plywood painted with a thin layer of opaque white and supported through the foot of the bridge. Bathed by the sun from the windows, the room provides a feeling of softness and ventilation. Behind an open door is a pantry where baskets I used to look for creek beds for wild spring onions and dandelion leaves hang from the ceiling. During a cooking class, I met O’Keeffe’s cook, Margaret Wood, who said, “Miss O’Keeffe is a tasty and undeniable food lover, and she’s also a healthy nut.” “She is a well-known pioneer nutritionist Adelle Davis and her lawn an extension of her kitchen. We prepare O’Keeffe’s favorite recipes for the lemon-baked bird in an aerial cup; corn soup, made from new uncooked corn kernels on the cob; and Norwegian apple pie cake with rum sauce. Turns out he liked to cook, eat and mow the lawn as much as making art.
A look at the Kentuck Knob cooking space, a home designed through Frank Lloyd Wright in Chalk Hill, Pennsylvania.
Kentuck Knob Kitchen, 1956, Chalk Hill, Pennsylvania
I love the optimism and hope inherent in mid-century fashion design, and the way Frank Lloyd Wright has painted with herbal fabrics from the Kentuck Knob site. Bernardine and I.N. Clients. Make known the benefits of stainless metal countertops through their dairy products: easy to leave blank, leave blank and disinfect. Wright had searched for Cherokee red tiles, but the Hagans opted for stainless metal. Ms. Hagan enjoyed her cooking and used it. It was all within two feet of him. We deserve to have a counter area for hash and preparation paints where spices, utensils and appliances are at hand. Finally, cork on the ground is a herbal material, comfortable for the feet, looks smart and I will break fewer glasses.
Julia Child’s kitchen in Cambridge, Massachusetts, now at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.
Julia Child Kitchen, 1961, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
I’m minimalist in mind, so Julia Child’s kitchen was a revelation. This replaced my total attitude about not only the kitchens, but also the interior design of the whole house. You don’t have to save everything; Not everything will be perfect. The boy was proud to have an arranged kitchen. The utensils and ingredients were at hand, the magnetic knife holders kept the knives handy, the rotating lamps helped remove the shadows. In addition, ergonomics is important: children’s countertops are custom designed for 6 feet 2 inches. We are closer to 1.50 meters: I cook on a hand ladder in your kitchen. Kitchens would be more convenient if we designed them for cooking, not for fashion. But Child’s kitchen was also full of personality, with art, memories, tchotchkes and bright, cheerful colors. Besides, I love your Marimekko tablecloth.
Louis and Lucille Armstrong’s turquoise cuisine in Queens, New York.
Louis Armstrong Kitchen, 1970, Queens, New York
Armstrong’s wife, Lucille, cooked Louis’ favorite dish, red beans and rice, in a sublime 1970s kitchen bathed in turquoise, to place his turquoise Cadillac in the garage. There is a traditional double oven and an old Sub-Zero refrigerator, also in turquoise. Yes, turquoise is his favorite color. The lesson? The color is good!
Elvis Presley’s printed kitchen in Graceland.
Graceland Kitchen, 1977, Memphis, Tennessee
Visiting Elvis Presley’s kitchen was like a happy adventure in time until my training years in the 1970s. The visual variety in Graceland’s kitchen told me we can be individuals. We don’t want to create a white kitchen style. Perhaps not the stained glass shutters with apples, grapes and pears, however, anything that encourages us. The trend is a design detail that has been ignored in fresh kitchens, but is in the Graceland kitchen. Well, on reflection, I liked those blinds better.
Ota’s cousin’s kitchen on Vancouver Island, British Columbia.
Pearlstone Kitchen, 2016, Vancouver Island, British Columbia
I finished my vacation in my cousin’s west coast area. Here, the kitchen is the large room of the area. It extends into the dining room and living room and on the terrace, across the lawn and into the ocean. It is a total area, internal and external. A window over the sink is a must. Although we don’t look at the Pacific Ocean at home, it’s great to appreciate the view, watch the kids play or watch the birds while they wash the dishes. Another note: a giant pantry like here (and in the Georgia O’Keeffe area) is an advantage for artistic cuisine. Like The Julia Child and Kentuck Knob kitchens, it is organized according to the chef’s wishes.
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Latest thoughts
Back home in Toronto, our own kitchen remains a painting in progress. There are so many concepts to use and adapt from all those outstanding kitchens. The ultimate production architecture comes to designs that paint with existing constraints. In our case, we have to paint in our space from 10 feet to 12 feet. We don’t have to get and build a new, bright and spectacular kitchen. We can start with some concepts and let things grow organically. We can see what paintings and what not and continue to gain advantages from it. I’m not sure we can build a “perfect” kitchen, but I know we can make it an excellent and satisfied kitchen for years to come. Hell, the kids installed nine kitchens before deciding on the ultimate design. And Julia Child is probably the most prominent cook in history.
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