Inside the Battle to Rule the Smart Kitchen of Tomorrow
WIRED—October 29, 2016
KITCHEN ARCHITECT JOHNNY Grey gives smart, inspired speeches that could be TED Talks. He speaks about the things you’d expect from somebody dedicated to kitchen design, like light, and where you stand to cook. But he also introduces concepts like the physical invitation of a space and the allure of imperfection. A bit loopy, maybe, but he always bases his designs on how people work in and interact with a space, and with each other. The kitchen should be functional, of course, but it should be a social, inviting spot that revolves around people.
We’re in the moment of the connected kitchen, in which kitchen appliances sync to the cloud and even your coffee maker has a companion app. Look at the photos of Grey’s kitchens, however, and you’ll notice none of them feature a screen.
“It’s as if we are in the calm before the storm,†Grey says, “treading in that marshy ground between interesting, potentially useful, and sci-fi.â€
As the smart kitchen is now being pushed into the mass market, it’s a good time to keep Grey’s principles in mind. There are an ever-growing number of smart appliances; some of them are great, but many are just not fully baked.
Do we really need this stuff?
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