The Tower Kitchen designed by Philippe Starck for Warendorf is comprised of three elements: two towers and a kitchen island. The two towers house hot and cold appliances and accessories, while the island features a sink and hob. Each tower takes up a mere square meter of floor space, making the Tower Kitchen a space-saving alternative to traditional kitchens. Like the development of the city itself, when space became limited, people turned from the horizontal to the vertical. Starck’s concept echoes this shift.Tower Kitchen. Designed by Philippe Starck. Manufactured by Warendorf.

Tower Kitchen. Designed by Philippe Starck. Manufactured by Warendorf.

Cold and Hot Towers House Revolutionary Kitchen

Described by Warendorf as “highly flexible, highly functional, and highly individual,” Tower Kitchen revolutionizes the very idea of a kitchen by turning it on its side. The hot tower includes an integrated oven, steam oven, and microwave; the cold tower features a fridge-freezer and dishwasher. Both of these elegant units have doors fitted on three sides, “while the fourth side is left open for individual design.” Instead of finishing all sides in macoré veneer, users can opt for a full-surface blackboard—for listing needed grocery ingredients or writing out recipe directions.

Tower Kitchen also revolves (putting me in mind of those signature revolving restaurants in metropolitan cities across the country) a complete 360 degrees with “a light touch of the hand.” The units include shelves for displaying “useful and pretty objects.” And, because so much in design happens in threes, the Tower Kitchen is finished with a unique kitchen island that includes a sink and cooking hob and doubles as a dining table. The horizontal expanse of the island balances the two vertical sweeps of the towers, creating an ideal composition.

Via Freshome.

About the Manufacturer: Warendorf is “part of a single whole”—the whole being the company known as AFG, which includes five divisions: Kitchens and Refrigeration, heating and plumbing, windows and doors, Steel Technology, and Surface Technology. Warendorf is the division known for producing “kitchens for personalities since 1973.”