Your kitchen’s layout can make or break its functionality. In most cases, the homeowners we work with take their current layout for granted and don’t even think about altering it for their upcoming kitchen remodel. However, changing your layout can make a tremendous difference in how your family uses the space. After all, functionality will always be a top priority.
If you’re planning to hire one of the best kitchen remodel contractors near you to help you with your cooking space layout, keep reading and maybe you decide what layout is suitable for your everyday needs.
Architect Ma Yansong, the curator of Blueprint Beijing, a feature exhibition exploring the future of the Chinese capital at the 2022 Beijing Biennial, shares six of his highlight installations from the show.
Ma, the founding partner of Chinese architecture studio MAD, invited 20 architects and artists of different generations from around the world to present their visions for the future of the city of Beijing in a variety of mediums including architectural models, installations, photography and videos.
Blueprint Beijing is the feature exhibition at the inaugural 2022 Beijing Biennial curated by MAD’s founding partner Ma Yansong
“Blueprint Beijing is a comparative study of history and the future of Beijing and the world,” Ma told Dezeen.
“We compiled a compendium of seminal events, people and ideologies from around the world that have vividly explored the theme of ‘the future’, such as Archigram, Oscar Niemeyer and many more, that have had a significant impact on current architects, and have influenced changes in Beijing’s urban planning in relation to major events.”
“The works of several creators selected here traverse the dimensions of time, space and geography, and their personal creative imagination has brought distinct significance to the exhibition,” he added.
Twenty architects and artists from around the world are invited to re-imagine the future of the city
The exhibition also presents material taken from historic archives about eight architects and collectives that have showcased visionary ideas, as well as four Chinese science fiction films with historic significance.
Here, Ma has selected six of his highlights from Blueprint Beijing for Dezeen:
Restaurant Inside the Wall, by Drawing Architecture Studio, 2023
“The Restaurant Inside the Wall installation is presented as a graphic novel, with a restaurant hidden inside the wall as the protagonist. Drawing Architecture Studio (DAS) transformed the graphic novel into a spatial experience in order to strengthen the absurd and suspenseful atmosphere of the story, by collaging and connecting the real elements of various street stalls.
“Drawing from the observation of urban spaces in China, DAS has discovered a lot of unexpected pockets of wisdom embedded in everyday urban scenes, and roadside ‘holes in the wall’ are an example of this. This installation adds a microscopic daily footnote to the grand avant-garde urban blueprint for the future.”
Filter City & City as a Room, by Peter Cook from Cook Haffner Architecture Platform, 2020-2022
“In this installation, Peter Cook dissects two of his drawings – Filter City (2020) and City as a Room (2022) – into elements that concentrate on sequences.
“Cook utilizes his signature strategy of creating concept drawings that remain connected to the built environment, while also moving towards a new future-looking ‘hybrid’, particularly interiors, that can be created from fragments of drawing and images.
“As a result, viewers can transcend from distant observers into participants.”
“The installation of Liminal Beijing, created by People’s Architecture Office, connects the city of Beijing in different time and space. It features a knot of radiant, winding, and rotating tubes that can be interpreted as pneumatic tubes transporting documents in the 19th century or the hyperloops developed today, representing the link between the future and the past.
“Modern life would not be possible without the hidden system of ducts that deliver heating, cooling, and clean air. Air ducts in Liminal Beijing are made visible so they can be explored and occupied, and are presented as missing fragments of space and time.”
“This installation was realized by combining two of Coop Himmelb(l)au’s previous works: Heart Space – Astro Balloon in 1969 and Feedback Vibration City in 1971, which were first shown in this form at the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2008.
“The resulting installation is a cloud-like, semi-transparent and reflective floating space that translates visitors’ heartbeats into a lighting installation.
“Throughout its practice, Coop Himmelb(l)au has presented numerous futuristic ‘architectural’ prototypes of dwellings which are responsive to the sensibilities and activities of their inhabitants.”
Beijing In Imagination, by Wang Zigeng, 2023
“Chinese architect Wang Zigeng illustrates two city models that were informed by visual imagery of mandalas on the floor and ceiling of the exhibition space, expressing the tension between the ideal city and the chaos of the real world — a parallel reality of both the present and the future.
“He believes Beijing is the embodiment of ancient cosmologies and an ideal city prototype through the ritualization of urban space – the establishment of political and moral order as a highly metaphorical correspondence between human behavior and nature.”
Pao: A Dwelling for Tokyo Nomad Women II, by Toyo Ito, 2022 Beijing edition
“This installation explores what living means for city dwellers in a consumerist society. Even today, half of the population living in Tokyo are living alone, and having a place to sleep is all one needs. Pao is a light and temporary structure that can be dissolved in the buzz of the metropolis.
“This is a new edition of Toyo Ito’s previous work Pao: A Dwelling for Tokyo Nomad Women. By recreating the installation in Beijing while coming out of a global pandemic, Ito hopes to provide a space for visitors to reflect on the excessive consumerism that has continued to dominate the present.”
The Photography is by Zhu Yumeng unless otherwise stated.
When it comes to updating or remodeling your kitchen cabinets, there are four popular choices for homeowners. While you’re assessing the best cabinet option for your budget and lifestyle, you should consider your overall goals, any changes to the current layout, style, material, function, quality, and how much work will be involved.
Swiss brand On has opened its first UK shop on London‘s Regent Street, complete with steel fixtures and a robotic arm.
For its debut outpost in the United Kingdom, On aimed to showcase the science and technology behind its running shoes and clothing.
On has opened a trainer store on London’s Regent Street
“Our concept was a shoppable science museum in the sense that one of the main things we want to share is that what we do is science-based,” said On’s head of brand environments Nicholas Martin.
It is performance-run culture that is infused into everything we do.”
The store’s ground floor is defined by three circular steel tables, used to display the brand’s latest products.
The store contains three circular steel tables
Each of the tables, which can be raised and lowered, is surrounded by a curved steel wall that can be rotated to create a variety of layouts within the store.
The table at the store’s entrance also holds a robotic arm that mimics the action of running to showcase On’s running shoes.
The upper floor houses steel shoe cabinets
“The first thing you actually see is our robotic arm,” Martin told Dezeen. “We want people to touch and explore. So you kind of get to see the movement.”
“And then we also try to add different layers of storytelling,” he continued. “So you can compare the different shoes.”
On describes the cabinets as a “magic wall”
The first floor is defined by a pair of steel cabinets, described by On as a “magic wall” that runs the length of the store.
It contains all of On’s products in all available sizes so that customers can instantly try on trainers.
“Our goal was to revolutionise the way shoe try-ons happen,” said Martin. “At our stores, we let the product speak for itself. Our technology is something you feel once you put a product on.”
Contrasting the steel fixtures, the store’s walls were finished in natural clay sourced from Cornwall, which was applied by hand.
On the ground floor and in the basement-level event space, the walls are painted in a muted shade of grey while on the upper floors, they are finished in green.
The cabinets contain all sizes of On’s shoes
“Swiss engineering means for us loving technology and the natural world,” said Martin. “Technology makes the store look sleek, nature helps us to give the store a more imperfect and warmer look.”
“The store green is a nod to the legendary British racing green – a colour culturally saturated in movement, speed and engineering,” he continued.
The store is On’s first in the UK
Founded in 2010, On is known for its lightweight running shoes and is reportedly the fastest-growing running brand worldwide. Its stores form part of On’s wider efforts to build its brand internationally.
“They offer a space for our fans, community and new customers to explore and get to know the brand,” said Martin. “We see the store as a media channel that connects our fans with the brand.”
If you’ve decided to add custom cabinets to your kitchen layout and use this transformation to change the look and feel of your cooking space, you’re probably wondering what door style you should choose.
This lookbook collects eight homes with spacious open-plan interiors, where different floor designs have been used to subtly define areas for cooking, dining and lounging.
Open-plan interiors are an enduring trend in residential design, used most commonly to blend kitchen and living spaces and create a social heart for the home.
In this roundup, we explore the middle ground: open-plan rooms where mix-and-match flooring is used to softly demarcate kitchens, dining and living areas, visually reducing the size of the space without truncating it.
A decorative range of mosaic tiles is used across the floors of Cas 8 House, a 1920s penthouse in Valencia that was recently modernised by local studio DG Arquitecto.
As part of the project, the studio created an open-plan living area with an integrated kitchen. Here, the tiles help to set apart zones for lounging and food preparation, without breaking up the room.
London architect Applied Studio used mix-and-match chevron flooring in the rear extension of this house in Hackney, where two different finishes help divide the space.
On one side, black granite tiles outline the kitchen area, complemented by jet-black timber cabinetry. The opposite side of the room, which is used for dining, is lined with wooden planks teamed with white walls and matching furnishings.
Colour-blocking marks out different spaces in the Klinker Apartment, which Serboli Architecture created within the shell of a fire-damaged residence in Barcelona.
In the open-plan living area, a terracotta-hued strip of micro-cement flooring decorates the kitchen, which has a matching ceiling, splashback and cabinetry that is contrasted with a neutral tiled lounge area.
This open-plan cooking, dining and sitting area in the Villarroel apartment is divided into two sections by the flooring, which marries grey-coloured stone slabs with warm wood.
This reflects architecture studio Raúl Sánchez Architects’ overall design strategy for the home, which was to arrange it into zones without partition walls, opting for “material codes” that distinguish rooms from one another instead.
Chunky white-marble terrazzo is teamed with smooth cement for the flooring of this monolithic, multi-purpose room in the Mài Apartment in Ho Chi Minh City.
The graphic terrazzo used for the kitchen and food preparation area also covers its cabinets and worksurfaces, making the area feel like its own room despite opening out into the dining area.
Architecture studio Atelier Fréderic Louis opted for a more subtle terrazzo for the floor in the kitchen of House Mellinet, which shares the same room as the dining area.
While the terrazzo gives a functional feel to the kitchen, the dining area adjacent has wooden parquet flooring that establishes a warmer and more intimate atmosphere more suited to gathering at the dinner table.
Designer Adam Nathaniel Furman designed the colourful Nagatachō Apartment in Tokyo as a “visual feast”, with open-plan rooms that are filled with an eclectic mix of colours, patterns and textures.
At the heart of the plan is a candy-pink kitchen suite, which is finished with watermelon-green vinyl flooring. It connects to a sitting room with a contrasting soft lilac carpet that “looks like icing”.
Sleek poured-concrete flooring is juxtaposed with rustic wooden planks in this large, light-filled multi-purpose room, which is located in a renovated Parisian apartment.
The concrete is used to mark out the kitchen area, which is overlooked by a lounge and dining space with Les Arcs chairs by architect Charlotte Perriand and a statement Tulip table by architect Eero Saarinen.
As you’re thinking about kitchen improvements, or contemplating a total remodel of the most frequently used room in your house, a quick checklist will likely include custom made cabinets, flooring, appliances, and countertops.
However, before you get too far down the path in planning, pause to also consider how to make your kitchen distinctly yours. There are ways to incorporate your unique lifestyle and design tastes into your kitchen and they are well worth the time and expense because personalized elements are almost always what makes your new kitchen your favorite room to walk into.
Designer Keiji Ashizawa used muted tones to make the most of the sunlight in this apartment in central Tokyo, which features wooden art pieces and furniture that was specially designed for the space.
For the Hiroo Residence, named after its location in the city’s Hiroo neighbourhood, Ashizawa wanted to underline the quality of the light in the flat.
A cut-out wall lets light into the hallway, which has an artwork by Sara Martinsen
In the open-plan kitchen and living room, light streams in from a balcony, and the designer took advantage of this light source by creating a cut-out wall so that the light carries through to the hallway next to it.
“I think you can see we have a very nice sunlight here,” he told Dezeen during a walkthrough of the apartment. “So I didn’t want to use white, as it would be too bright – instead I used muted, subtle tones.”
A wooden artwork by Atelier Plateau and a slatted sideboard decorate the living room
He also wanted Hiroo Residence to feel like a peaceful place to come home to in a busy city, using natural materials to create a calm ambience.
“Outside it’s super noisy but inside it’s very quiet, so I chose muted tones that also fuse with the materials; the wood and the stone,” Ashizawa said.
The tranquil 200-square-metre apartment, which overlooks the Arisugawanomiya Memorial Park, has three bedrooms and two bathrooms, as well as a kitchen and dining area, a small workspace and plenty of storage spaces.
Shaker-informed chairs and a wooden light were used for the kitchen
Before designing the interior, Ashizawa changed the layout of the flat to make it more open, taking out an existing hallway to create a bigger dining space.
“Our goal was to design a space that can only be created by meticulously crafting from the smallest detail to the furniture, resulting in a quiet, comforting, and inspiring atmosphere with little noise, surrounded by natural materials crafted with tactility,” Ashizawa said of the design.
Keiji Ashizawa used a neutral colour palette for the home
He worked with the Japanese wooden furniture company Karimoku on the project, which is the eighth in its Karimoku Case Study series that sees it collaborate with architects on bespoke furniture and interior projects.
As a result, wood was used throughout Hiroo Residence, with white-stained oak covering many of the floors.
Ashizawa also worked with Karimoku to create wooden window frames and sliding doors, which were placed throughout the flat to add privacy without taking up too much space.
The furniture matches the wooden interior details and includes two pieces created especially for the project – a sideboard with decorative wooden slats and a dining chair with a woven seat that was inspired by both Shaker designs and classic Scandinavian chairs.
Wooden panels cover the bedroom walls
In the bedroom of Hiroo Residence, wooden wall panels add a tactile and more natural feel, which is echoed in the built-in shelves and drawers in the en-suite walk-in closet.
Cabinets were also used to hide different functions in the kitchen, where a large wooden unit takes up an entire wall.
An entire wall is taken up by a wooden kitchen unit
Even smaller details in the flat, such as the long kitchen lamp, were made from the material.
Artworks in wood by Danish art studio Atelier Plateau and the artist Sara Martinsen, which were created especially for the space, decorate the walls.
A sculptural spiral staircase, floor-to-ceiling windows and panelled walls have been paired with contemporary furnishings in Space Copenhagen‘s renovation of a restaurant and hotel in Switzerland.
Called Mammertsberg, the combined hotel and restaurant is housed within a 1911 villa that overlooks the Alps mountain range in Freidorf, Switzerland.
Top: a spiral staircase takes centre stage in Mammertsberg. Above: Space Copenhagen has renovated the Swiss hotel and restaurant
Danish design studio Space Copenhagen focused on the restaurant and lounge, which were totally refurbished to transform the interior from its previous status as a Swiss-food restaurant.
Meanwhile, the adjacent six hotel guest rooms were given a light refresh.
Contemporary furniture was added to the lounge
“We embraced the idea of keeping key historic, listed, and structural features, defining for the building and its architectural heritage,” Space Copenhagen told Dezeen.
“For the transformation towards something new, it felt important to add a diverse mix of furniture, lighting, materials, art and books, all of which could have been collected slowly over time,” the studio added.
Linen curtains frame the large windows
Due to the building’s historic status, Space Copenhagen faced certain refurbishment restrictions, which resulted in the studio adapting its design around existing features within the property.
These included a large central staircase by architect Tilla Theus that connects the restaurant on the ground floor to the bar and lounge on the first floor.
Natural materials were used throughout the interior
In the 42-seat fine-dining restaurant, which serves up locally sourced dishes, the studio embraced the high ceilings and large windows by adding floor-to-ceiling curtains in tactile, heavy linen.
“The building overlooks the impressive landscape and alpine scenery that characterises Switzerland and this inspired our design choices and approach,” said Space Copenhagen.
“It felt natural to treat the house as a large country home from which to enjoy the surrounding nature; offering guests the opportunity to contemplate and recharge.”
The restaurant has a walnut and linen colour palette
The surrounding nature was referenced in the material and colour choices, with solid oak tables in varying shapes and sizes dotted throughout the restaurant and lounge.
Elsewhere in the Mammertsberg restaurant, Scandinavian chairs were upholstered in subdued colour tones such as walnut and light linen, while petrol blue leather was added for contrast.
“We wanted to create a warm and inviting scene to balance the vibrant dishes while simultaneously seeking a high level of detailing, quality, and refinement in the curation of materials and furniture pieces,” explained Space Copenhagen.
“We worked with a new approach to solve the layout for the restaurant. Being a small restaurant allowed us to create a sense of familiarity with a variety of different tables – round, square and longer styles – all with different configurations and possibilities.”
Six guest rooms were given a light refresh
The project also involved updating Mammertsberg’s guest rooms. Each of the six rooms was individually decorated to feel like someone’s private residence, with sculptural lighting and soft furniture to encourage rest and relaxation.
According to the designers, the limited time frame meant that finer details such as adding new finishes were prioritised over a larger overhaul.
Each hotel suite is individually furnished
“We couldn’t change the polished stone floors in certain public areas such as the restrooms, bathrooms and guestrooms,” Space Copenhagen said.
“We solved this by applying a different finish which honed them as much as possible towards a more matt and subdued hue, settling into the overall colour and material palette.”
Space Copenhagen was established in Denmark in 2005 and is best known for its restaurant interior design projects.
