Arts & Entertainment
Kitchens: the rooms that changed everything
Published
4 years agoon
Posted By
Outlaw PartnersBy Scott Mechura EBS FOOD COLUMNIST
It’s perpetually interesting to me how inventions, behaviors, beliefs and social practices can come from the most unlikely circumstances.
For example, how the interstate system was the impetus of the modern restaurants as we know them, or how denim jeans, one of the most universal pieces of fashionable clothing, began as durable pants for gold miners.
But there is one piece of modern life so taken for granted, so prosaic, that no one even gives it a bit of thought: the modern kitchen as we know it. More precisely, the Frankfurt Kitchen.
For centuries, kitchens only existed in castles or homes of the wealthy upper class where staff and servants performed their daily work. For everyone else, cooking and dishwashing was done around a stove, usually cast iron, which was centrally located in the main room of the house—in some cases, the only room in the house.
As early as the late 1930s, virtually all apartments and tenement housing in homes around the globe were designed this way.
This rather unattractive, not to mention obtrusive, piece of equipment was where all meals were made (no Weber grills outside on the patio), hot water for dishes was heated, as well as hot water for additional cleaning, such as laundry. And, as if this uncomely necessity wasn’t working hard enough, it was usually the only source of heat in the winter months as well.
Ironically, people spend thousands of dollars on cast iron stoves as a fashion item in their kitchens today. The Scandinavian AGA Cooker is a sleek (as sleek as a massive cast iron oven can be), beautifully glazed work of practical art commonly found in a spacious rural kitchen.
Then something happened. A movement.
Due to the devastating effects of enemy bombings, large portions of post-World War I Europe were in the midst of a huge housing shortage. That, along with something called the English Garden City Movement, which involved designing neighborhoods so that they were surrounded by open recreation space, had city planners and architects rethinking the way we designed living spaces.
I doubt many Americans, or even Europeans for that matter, have heard of Margarete Schutte-Lihotzky, the first female Austrian architect, but we have her to thank for the kitchen as we know it today.
Enter Ernst May and the Romerstadt movement. May was a German architect who was tasked with redesigning living spaces in urban areas, one he quickly assigned to Schutte-Lihotzky.
So why was the first female architect tasked with such a project by a senior engineer and city planner? Because, in the parlance of the times, cooking and being in a kitchen was traditionally a woman’s work.
The challenge Schutte-Lihotzky faced was creating a functional, sensible, useful space without encroaching too much on the overall floorplan of the home. It was a major milestone in home design.
These first kitchens closely resembled a ship’s galley and had a cookie-cutter look to them (pun intended). This would turn out to be a prelude to the houses that would soon follow all across America after World War II.
So, the next time you’re watering the plant in the windowsill over your kitchen sink, or hosting your next party and you find yourself gathered in the kitchen, think of Margarete who passed away in 2000 just days before her 103rd birthday..
Scott Mechura has spent a life in the hospitality industry. He is a former certified beer judge and currently the executive chef at Buck’s T-4 Lodge in Big Sky.
The Outlaw Partners is a creative marketing, media and events company based in Big Sky, Montana.
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February 26 (Monday) - April 21 (Sunday)
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My Barking Dog is a nightmare comedy
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My Barking Dog is a nightmare comedy that tells the story of Toby and Melinda, two lonely people whose lives are forever changed the night they encounter a starving coyote at their apartment building. Over time they grow to expect him, leaving ritual offerings to entice the coyote every night. Toby and Melinda forge a connection over this visitor and share curiosity and concern about his presence in the city. The coyote expands their world–until, one night, their world is shattered. Their lives are pushed suddenly into uncharted territory, sending them on a surreal odyssey that changes their city–and the world–forever.
Directed by LX Miller. Starring Max Schneider and Denise Hergett
Verge Theater is continuing their mission to provide accessible theater to our community. Tickets for My Barking Dog are Pay What You Wish with a suggested price of $35. Audience members are offered the opportunity to select the price point that is comfortable for them when purchasing tickets.
My Barking Dog runs March 15-17, 22-24, 28-30
Performances on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays begin at 7:00 p.m., with Sunday matinees offered at 3:00 p.m.
Suitable for ages 16 . No animals are harmed in the staging of this production.
Tickets are available online at www.vergetheater.com
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15 (Friday) 7:00 pm - 30 (Saturday) 8:30 pm
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Verge Theater
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Area parents are encouraged to bring their young children to Symphony Storytime with a Bassoon which will be presented at the Bozeman Public Library’s Community Room during
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Area parents are encouraged to bring their young children to Symphony Storytime with a Bassoon which will be presented at the Bozeman Public Library’s Community Room during their regular Toddler and Preschool Storytime on Wednesday, March 20, at 10:15 a.m. The free program, presented by the Bozeman Symphony is especially for children ages 3 to 5. Children will be able to listen to Montana Shakespeare in the Parks actor Emma Rather, who will be joined by Bozeman Symphony Bassoonist Sam Macken. The goal of the program is to encourage a love of music, literacy, and discovery. Additional programs are scheduled at the Library on April 10 and June 12. For more information, visit www.bozemansymphony.org or call 406-585-9774.
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(Wednesday) 10:15 am - 10:45 am
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Bozeman Public Library
626 E. Main St, Bozeman, MT