THINK (^) | HISTORY
T
he future felt imminent in the early
20th century. In the aftermath of
theFirstWorldWar,peoplewanted
toforgetthepastandlookforward.
At the same time, ever-increasing
industrialisation meant leaving
behindoldwaysoflifefornewurbanjobsand
suburbanhomes.Thepaceofchangewas
accelerating so fast, the future seemed to be just
around the corner – and mid-century homes
becametestinggroundsfornewideasabout
howwemightlive.Suchideasareexploredin
London’s Design Museum’s ‘Home Futures’
exhibitionlookingat“today’shomethroughthe
prism of yesterday’s imagination”. As the
exhibition shows, no progress comes without
experimentation–andsomeoftheseexperiments
wouldprovetobemoreinfluentialthanothers.THE FITTED KITCHEN
Makingthemostofwomen’swork
Somethingthat’snowsoubiquitous,it’shardto
imaginethatiteverhadtobedesigned.The‘Frankfurt kitchen’ (above right) was designed in
1926byMargareteSchütte-Lihotzkyforasocial
housingprojectinGermanyandwassuchahitit
became the blueprint for apartment kitchens
across Europe. “Firstly, life is work, and secondly
it is relaxing, company, pleasures,” said Schütte-
Lihotzky, dividing the home accordingly, with
thekitchenreservedfortheformer.Aswomen
who had worked during wartime were
encouraged back into the home, scientific
management pioneers Christine Frederick and
LillianMGilbrethsoughttoprofessionalisethe
role of the housewife, reimagining the kitchen as
herworkplace.Inspiredbythisidea,Schütte-
Lihotzkycarriedouttimeandmotionstudiesto
createakitchenthatwouldoptimise‘efficiency’
and ‘workflow’, as well as hygiene. For the first
time,kitchenscamecompletewithstovesand
built-instorage–andevenfold-downironingFrom houses that
appear to float in the air
through to the wonders
of a – wait for it – fitted
kitchen, our past
dreams of what our
future domestic lives
would look like have
sometimes been spot
on and, at other times,
hilariously off-track
“For the first time
kitchens came with stoves
and built-in storage”»