Compact kitchen

Studies of kitchens by master’s degree students at the University of Art and Design Helsinki and new ideas from the Aaltos in the 1930s in the Gallery at the Alvar Aalto Museum, February 13 – May 10, 2009.

The kitchen is usually the focal point of the home. It is expected to be practical in its functions and to provide solutions which make everyday life easier. Can an efficient, functional kitchen also be beautiful?

Spatial and furniture design students at the University of Art and Design Helsinki have accepted the challenge and designed four compact kitchens and three sets of tableware as testimonies of study. They are now on display in this exhibition at the Alvar Aalto Museum. Alongside the students’ work you can also see examples of some of the latest ideas on compact kitchens produced by Aino and Alvar Aalto in their own era. The Aalto’s designs have been compiled into a book which can be browsed while viewing the exhibition.

The assignment given to the group of 16 students from various countries was clear: carry out a written and a visual study of the most frequently used kitchen utensils and the ways in which they are stored. One of the main parameters was the most economical use of the materials and the space, coupled with minimal costs. The studies have a process-like character which shows off the students’ trains of thought and leads to inventive solutions.

The finished kitchens implement ingenious ideas about flexible furniture and lightweight construction. The sets of tableware are characterised by simple forms and the combination of different materials. The work has a visual freshness and is given added spice by the multicultural backgrounds of the students, with their Finnish, European and Asian dimensions. The kitchen studies were on display in the Helsinki Design Week event in autumn 2008. The students were supervised by Professor Simo Heikkilä, Professor Timo Salli, and Martin Relander.

The kitchen designs by Aino and Alvar Aalto are linked with the Industrial Design exhibition held at the Helsinki Kunsthalle (Helsinki Art Hall) in 1930, in conjunction with the Minimum Apartment exhibition. The kitchen of the small apartment designed by the architect couple highlights simplicity and practicality. The designs, which were clearly ahead of their time, also included “a lot of new ideas that have to be taken seriously, including sliding rubbish bins, storage systems for grains and cereals, suspended saucepan shelves, etc.” as the daily newspaper Helsingin Sanomat wrote in a review of the exhibition.

The Aalto’s drawings and the photographs of the exhibition that are on display show how very modern these 1930 designs seemed to be. Professional kitchen designers are still brooding over the same questions when designing functional kitchens today.

For more information, please contact:
The Alvar Aalto Museum
Information Officer: Mirkka Vidgrén, mirkka.vidgren@alvaraalto.fi
Curator of Education: Teija Isohauta, teija.isohauta@alvaraalto.fi

ALVAR AALTO MUSEUM, Alvar Aallon katu 7, 40600 Jyväskylä
Open Tue-Sun 11-18.
Tel. +358 (0)14 624 809, museum@alvaraalto.fi
www.alvaraalto.fi