the story so far…

The development of kitchen ergonomics, Italian design and Salvarani kitchen design…

The origins of the kitchen

From our earliest ancestors, we have needed somewhere to cook food. Even the first cave dwellers and nomads had a kind of kitchen, building a fireplace not just for warmth and to fend off wild animals but also to prepare meals. Eating also began to be enjoyed as a social event at which the entire family or tribe gathered together.

When people started to settle, they built permanent dwellings with fixed fireplaces for the preparation of food. In a sense from these early beginnings these kitchen rooms were the hub of the home because all of the family life took place in this room.

Throughout the 18th century kitchens continued to centre on the fireplace, with the exception of the aristocracy and the developing middle class who thought that the smell and preparation of food were beneath their status, deciding to “banish” the kitchen to the basement where servants prepared the meals. The mistress of the household took pride in not having to remain or even enter these “dirty” and “crude” rooms.

For the middle class farmers and workers predominately in Europe however all the houshold activities took place in one room, since the house only consisted of one room.

In the later part of the eighteenth century houses with seperate dining rooms became more common. Cooking was no longer a question of domestic organisation and basic need, but a means to entertain family and friends, with fine dining a sign of social refinement and the birth of the formal meal.

In the early part of the twentieth century, the industrialisations of factories were established with better systems to increase production. Christine Frederick (1913) adopted industrial studies in the ‘Taylor’ principle in factories to the domestic household, in pursuit of reducing the amount of time that required working in the kitchen. Architects, in particular female architects adopted the principles to design better functional kitchens.

One such architect, Viennese Architect Margret Schutte-Lihotzky in cooperation with the architect Ernst May, adopted these ergonomic principles and designed a kitchen for the city of Frankfurt to be installed in social housing projects as a way to reduce the amount of time in a kitchen so that women could have more time to participate in factory work and assist to rebuild the nation after the first world war.

In 1926, the ‘Frankfurt kitchen’ as it became known, was released and is the hallmark of many principles used in modern ergonomic kitchens. Equipped with the first integrated cooking appliances, plate racks, integrated bins, varying worktop heights, lighting consideration, allocated storage compartments and work zones, its was exhibited in 1930 in Stockholm and had a lot of influence on northern European ergonomic kitchen design.

After the second world war, the dream of a better life was embodied by all, which translated into kitchen designs that were more spacious, open and equipped with the use of the latest technologies and materials like plastic, laminate, anodised metals and kitchen appliances. Design aesthetics in kitchen design began to have an equally important focus to simply performing a functional. Kitchen designers introduced new fashionable colours and materials to the kitchen, led by the design leaders of Italy.

1950′s

Italian industry immediately after the war was undeveloped and accompanied by the presence of regional craftmanship with an eye for attention to detail. Italian design was led by industries associated with furniture, fashion and transportation. To this day, Italian design represents the hallmark of adding exceptional ‘aesthetic value’, known as ‘deign taste’ to seemingly functional product designs.

Italian design in the 50′s flourished, leading the world in artistic and cultural development. Many Hollywood greats chose Cinecittà in Rome to produce their films. These were the years of the ‘Dolce Vita’ (Sweet Life). Rome welcomed painters, poets, writers, film stars and directors from around the world. It was the Italy of ‘Holiday in Rome’, the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain.

Salvarani, established in 1939, was one of the first companies in Italy to translate this artistic development era by creating ‘kitchen furniture’. Among the most popular products was a small gas cylinder holder and cooker unit. More than 50,000 were sold throughout Italy, creating the base for Salvarani to grow in strength in the coming decades.

1960′s

The Sixties brought many developments in kitchen design, once again led by the leaders in Italian design. The ‘working triangle’ developed in the USA, gained popularity in promoting ergonomic efficiencies to fashionable kitchen designs. Although the ‘working triangle’ proved to have some initial benefits, the value of promoting kitchen designs were focused on delivering fashionable work spaces that resembled less and less the dreary small cooking rooms of the past. The kitchen was becoming more central to our social household behaviour and being in it did not need to be a dull experience. With a passion for fast looking vehicles, Italians developed ‘fast’ looking kitchens to translate the efficiencies in Italian kitchen design.

The Sixties brough several significant Salvarani achievements, including Salvarani’s invention of the first laminated kitchen cabinet, which rapidly became part of the unique ‘Made in Italy’ success and adopted by others internationally.

Throughout the Sixties Salvarani continued to grow as a premium Italian brand and as always it collaborated with the cusp of fashion and cultural development by supporting the artistic talents of upcoming sporting achievers and artisans in music, fashion and furniture design… a tradition that remains to today.

1970′s

The 1970′s saw further development in Kitchen production and the popularity of the Salvarani brand throughout Italy and Europe. As the market demanded better investment in production, the Salvarani brothers commissioned a state of the art production facility covering 1,200,000m² with 300,00m² covered production complex. The complex in the Seventies was soon a symbol in its region of Italian industrialisation progression.

At the beginning of the Seventies, Salvarani obtained another important acknowledgements; among them the ‘Longline’ kitchen style (re-inspired and re-released in 2008), originally designed by Adalberto Dal Lago, recognised as an example of precise and simple functional design and exhibited at MoMa (the Museum of Modern Art) of New York. The Longline kitchen was acknowledged at the time as the best example of contemporary consumer design, which its flush handle design has since inspired copies around the world to this date.

Salvarani invested in not only expanding its production and design capabilities but also its brand recognition with innovative advertising campaigns and TV commercials, directed by Oscar nominee Elio Petri, considered at that time as a major figure in Italian cinema distinguished by dry caustic humour, political outrage and an enthusiasm for the unexpected, ensuring that Salvarani always presents itself at the cutting edge

1980′s

The Eighties saw an increasing resurgence in the Italian fashion industry. Salvarani, an ever-attentive observant of the latest trends and cultural phenomena collaborated with well known Italian fashion stylists and designers ‘Krizia’, founded by Mariuccia Mandelli.

Inspired by Krizia clothes and handbag designs, the Salvarani-Krizia kitchen model extended the kitchen users fashion statement not only outside the home but as well inside.

1990′s

The Nineties brought many positive changes to Salvarani in further expansion and consolidation of its posiion as a leading company in the high quality kitchen segment. The release of the Salvarani ‘Baia’ kitchen style, a distincive kitchen characterised by its curved doors allowed the creation of ergonomic workstations (then still based on the ‘working triangle’ design theory).

In 1997 Salvarani was acquired by the Elli family, owners of the prestigious furniture group FEG and specialising in furniture for both day and night lifestyle acivities. FEG founded by Egidio and Ambrogio Elli in 1948 by now was run by the family’s next generation. In the 1990′s the brand focused on all interior home furnishings which by now also included Salvarani kitchens. The FEG Group brought many synergies, including their latest production technologies and environmental awareness by using non-toxic environmental materials. The current management continues to search for quality, functional and safe products with a keen tradition on leading the next design trend. During this era its turnover tripled as it established itself once again as one of the leading brands in European design.

2000′s… nowadays

In early 2000 internal storage hardware solutions in kitchens began to make a resurgence and ergonomic considerations could once again be part of kitchen design focus. The ‘Working Triangle’ of the 1950’s was finally deconstructed in several kitchen user studies. The development of kitchen work zones to separate kitchen activities begins to create more functional work areas. Salvarani kitchens fuse these ergonomic considerations with their strong tradition of high design to create better value to the kitchen user. Salvarani develops the design process that considers all activities in the kitchen and the items stored within, before a design layout commences, accommodating ergonomic and high aesthetic design for cooking, food preparation, cleaning, consumable and non-consumable work zones.

In 2005 Salvarani signs an important collaboration with Studio Castiglia Associates, who have been a design reference point for many years in Milan. Thereafter the highly acclaimed Highteak kitchen with fusion of high style, efficient use of materials and ergonomic considerations is released. The range has since been enriched with additional releases of Executive, Executive One,
Grand Cuisine, Slim and the long awaited re-edition of Longline.

In 2008, in recognition that there is no national kitchen brand in Australia, Salvarani Australia Pty. Ltd. prepares to launch the Salvarani brand Australia-wide, with a vision to offer affordable innovative kitchens, high Italian design and the best in ergonomic layout and consideration. Salvarani Australia is credited with the license to locally manufacture in Australia following strict Italian production and design specification that incorporate local consideration suited to Australian living, to deliver the design quality and innovation expected only from the Salvarani name. Attention is given to the flexibility of each design to meet different levels of house configurations, materials used and budget.

Salvarani (Australia) opens its first showroom in Sydney in 2009 to manufacture Salvarani kitchens and wardrobes to Australian families…

… the story continues