You can’t really assess a kitchen until you use it—and by you, I mean those of you who cook (I don’t, and my husband assures me it’s better this way). So when 3rings writes about innovative kitchen designs, especially space-saving ones like Original Circle Kitchen, people wonder if they work. Gourmands tend to write comments that explain why these products certainly will not work; A+D buffs write comments to defend the pioneering designs (but they probably don’t cook). So here’s another cutting-edge kitchen product for your next form vs. function debate: Rubika.

Rubika. Designed by Lodovico Bernardi.

Rubika is “a new concept in kitchen design…conceived for small spaces.” It comes to us from Lodovico Bernardi, an industrial designer who also has a Master’s Degree in Ecodesign and Ecoinnovation. Move it, rotate it—this kitchen and table unit should fit your small footprint/cooking needs. Rubika obviously uses much less material than a traditional kitchen, and it’s made from FSC-certified wood. Bernardi collaborated with Michele Monopoli and Stefano Ogis to realize Rubika, which was developed for Eusebi Furniture.

A sink is tucked beneath the prep surface, plate racks are hidden in a pull-out drawer, and a cooktop is concealed under the table top. Little spaces appear here and there in mysterious fashion, like some enchanted box a magician might use to cut up an assistant and rearrange her parts. If Rubika does work, surely cooks will need to change their paradigm of what constitutes a kitchen, but we should all pay attention to Rubika’s underlying idea that less is more.