Islands that bring us together

luxury kitchen island

While maintaining its essential role in the preparation, cooking, and storage of food, the kitchen has gradually been recovering its traditional role as a hub where home life converges. The times when preparing meals was considered a private, unsightly activity are long gone; the democratization of cooking, no longer left in the hands of servants and housewives, has turned it into a prestigious, creative endeavor, in which family members and friends—men and women alike— are glad to partake.

This evolution of culinary activity, along with the advances of the technical devices for cooking, ventilation, and cleaning, has led to a transformation of kitchen design aimed at adapting it to its new social function. Today, the kitchen, living, and dining areas tend to be interconnected in an organic whole. And in this revolutionary shift in the way kitchens are conceived, islands have moved to center stage.

bulthaup kitchen eixample
bulthaup project bach
bulthaup kitchen eixample
bulthaup project bach

A free-standing element

A cooking island is, essentially, a free-standing element capable of fulfilling a broad range of requirements, be they functional, architectural, aesthetic, or social.

An island can provide extra space for strictly culinary tasks by housing one or several traditional kitchen functions—cooking, preparation, cleaning, and storage—and even serve as a counter for breakfasts or quick meals. Some islands even span the entire kitchen, covering all of these functions at once.

cooking island

An island as a connecting element

From an architectural perspective, an island acts as a connecting element: opening up or enclosing an area that transcends the kitchen itself, while highlighting a different use of the living space. It can even conceal food preparation activities without banishing the cook to isolation.

An aesthetic element

An island can fulfill a purely aesthetic purpose as well. Depending on its shape and materials, it can act as a landmark within the overall space, underscoring a given formal orientation.

bulthaup brand island

A place for communication

An island can include a dining counter that encourages communication and collaboration. If cooking is about the skill of magically combining flavors, colors, aromas, and textures to create the ephemeral, shared work of art which constitutes a good meal, there is no better place for that exchange than an island. By connecting the inside and the outside, the island stimulates interaction among cooks, family, and friends, ushering them into a shared experience as commonplace as it is essential.

Photo 1:

bulthaup Girona

Photographer: Xavi Juanola

 

Photo 2-3: 

bulthaup Barcelona

Photographer: Jordi Folch

 

Photo 4:

bulthaup Girona

Photographer: Xavi Juanola

 

Photo 5:

bulthaup Barcelona

Photographer: Jordi Folch

 

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