WHAT'S COOKING?

CONTEMPORARY KITCHENS ARE A BESPOKE RESPONSE TO PECULIAR MARKET NEEDS AND DEMANDS

- CAROL FERRAO

Whether it’s the concept of ‘social’ kitchens or the increasing popularity of German and Italian engineered kitchens, homes today are equipped with avant-garde kitchens. Contemporary kitchen design is all about addressing new customer aspirations, their fondness for global cuisine along with regional-style cooking, need for smart appliances, and demand for multi-functional spaces with efficient storage solutions, among a host of other new requirements. It’s the perfect blend of local and global aspirations – a challenge the modular kitchen industry is addressing with new solutions.

“Consumers today want a kitchen that does not look like an ordinary kitchen, but one that is equipped with modern functions, ease of use and is low maintenance,” points out Dinesh Aggarwal, joint managing director, Panasonic Life Solutions. In response, Panasonic has been offering specific solutions like noiseless doors, drawers and accessories, along with slim counters that match the equally sleek kitchen fronts. These individual features play a definitive role in the understanding of contemporary kitchens today. “Contemporary kitchens designed with cutting-technology are clean, uncluttered, effortless and minimalist, whilst remaining livable,” summarises Aggarwal.

Ridhvika Chawla, director - marketing, Hacker Kitchens India, explains that the rising demand for the contemporary kitchen is directly linked to the architecture and design that’s in vogue today. The combination of straight-line inspired designs and modern palettes as well as aesthetics, in particular wooden fronts that are warm yet modish, are what define contemporary kitchens today, according to her. Chawla also points out that the real estate trend of offering bare-shell houses has made kitchens bigger, allowing them to be interactive spaces with add-on features such as small sitting nooks and breakfast counters.