The Collection of Designmuseum Danmark
NEWLY ACQUIRED FRANKFURT KITCHEN SHOWN FOR THE FIRST TIME
Now visitors can experience a so-called Frankfurt Kitchen from 1930 at Designmuseum Danmark, where it becomes part of the new permanent exhibition, DANISH MODERN. This is the first time that the newly acquired and original Frankfurt Kitchen—sourced directly from an apartment in a Frankfurt housing block, where it was in use until 2015 —will be showcased at the museum.
In 1926, the young Austrian architect Margarete Lihotzky designed a small, modern, practical, and affordable kitchen. It measured 3.44 meters in length and 1.90 meters in width. The cabinets had no back panels and were mounted directly against the neighboring cabinet. There were two countertops, one high and one low. Additionally, the kitchen featured plenty of practical drawers for storage. It was named the Frankfurt Kitchen because it was produced and installed in social housing developments in the city of Frankfurt am Main, Germany, in the years that followed.
The Ideal Kitchen
One of these historic German ideal kitchens—the predecessor to all later modular kitchens—can now be seen at the design museum. Visitors can see the Frankfurt Kitchen up close and learn about the story behind it. Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky revolutionized home design with her scientific approach, inspired by Scientific Management. Through time and motion studies, she designed the first modular kitchen, where everything was positioned for minimal walking distance and maximum efficiency.
Highly Relevant Today
The kitchen was created during a time when there was much discussion about the “minimum dwelling.” How could one create the most living value for workers in the least amount of space and for the lowest cost? The ideals behind the Frankfurt Kitchen are a hundred years old, yet they resonate today with the focus on “tiny living,” sustainability, and social responsibility on a global scale. The Frankfurt Kitchen has been a groundbreaking inspiration for architects and designers throughout the 20th century and continues to be so today.