After the enthusiasm and success of the first edition, the grand closing event of the second edition of Conviviality 4 Kitchen and Modern Living took place on Thursday, July 12. It is the international workshop of the University Master’s program “Industrial Design for Architecture” at Politecnico di Milano and POLI.design.
Industrial design and architecture, the study of product technologies, materials, and the evolution of cultural and social habits… these are just some of the topics addressed by the experts during the event.
The future of the home kitchen and the needs of its users was the main theme of the workshop. Venere Ferraro, a professor of the master’s program together with Federico Elli and Riccardo Negri, asked the students to design three types of space for as many categories of users: the chef of a private yacht, the food blogger at work in her outdoor kitchen, and the aspiring chef in his home kitchen.
In its first year, the initiative was able to count on the collaboration of important partners such as Frigo2000, with its well-established design and commercial experience, and Abimis, a company with incredible know-how in making steel kitchens. Abimis also welcomed the students to its facilities to introduce them to the world of steel kitchens for the marine and domestic sectors. The aim was to develop the projects starting from a professional setting and then apply them to the home environment.
The concept proposed by Frigo2000 for the project was to understand the habits of the three types of professionals in their “kitchen space,” and then design the new environment using a hygienic, functional, and high-performing material such as steel. Naturally, the students were given free rein to express their creativity and intuition.
Each project is a blend of attention to detail, focus on the user’s needs, modularity, and extensibility. Volumes that slide, materials that adapt to the cooks’ actions, refrigerators with transparent doors that allow food to be both seen and displayed, hobs that integrate and move with the volume that contains them: we are not talking about the future, but about the endless possibilities that come from combining design and product.
In one month, between company briefings and the workshop, the students created three projects: Penelope, the kitchen designed for the yacht; Swatch, the one for the food blogger working outdoors; and C-ater, the one for the aspiring chef.
To evaluate the projects, a jury of experts, made up of architect Aldo Parisotto (Studio Architetti Parisotto e Formenton), designer and architect Michela Baldessari (Baldessari e Baldessari), chef Gaia Giordano of Spazio Niko Romito (the project created by Michelin-starred chef Niko Romito), and architect Giovanni Antonelli Dudan (Dudan design), selected the most innovative project in terms of its use of technologies and materials.
Josefina Colombero, Franco Nabor, and Rima Nafouj are the designers who won the Conviviality 4 Kitchen and Modern Living master’s workshop, as decreed by the jury convened by Frigo2000, further confirming its commitment to always seeking innovative ways to rethink the home kitchen with a futuristic outlook.