The Frankfurt Kitchen by Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky is regarded as the prototype of today’s industrially-made fitted kitchens. This replica was created in 1990 for a retrospective exhibition of the Viennese architect’s work in the Museum for Applied Arts (MAK). The Frankfurt Kitchen displayed here is not a copy, but rather an ideal reconstruction of the original design. It was the architect herself who enabled this replica thanks to her memory of the details. It clearly shows how successful the Frankfurt Kitchen was at harmonizing rationalized housekeeping according to the newest technical opportunities from 1926 with homely, architectural details. The radical nature of the design is difficult to comprehend today, in an era when the successors of the Frankfurt Kitchen stand in nearly all homes. Its architecture nevertheless appeals to us even now, and hence it remains a milestone in kitchen development. She also designed two houses at the famous Werkbundsiedlung in the 13th district of Vienna. Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky died in Vienna in January 2000.

Photos
Vienna 2014