Unlike the traditional ventware systems, both the filter units and plates of RKS can fit easily into a dishwasher for easy cleaning. The Season Cooktop Ventware eliminates the possibility of getting outdated after few years since the replaceable face is available not only in different colors, but also in different styles.

This innovative kitchen model creates a wide range of designs at low cost, while offering an economical way for users to update and refresh the décor of their kitchen. It doesn’t matter if it is adding complementing countertops, accent color, or celebrating holidays, this ventware brings a brand new kitchen atmosphere through ultimate customizability.

Designer : RKS Design

Designer : Rochus Jacob

Interview with Nico :

What was the inspiration for your concept?
The inspiration was the experimental approach to molecular cooking. Even after several decades of molecular cuisine, it still seems to be an exclusive game for specialists. So it became my main goal to bring some of the fantastic possibilities and ideas of molecular cooking to all ambitious cooks with an easy to use, affordable appliance.

How does your concept fit into this year’s competition theme “Designs for the next 90 years”?
I think the idea of molecular cooking is forward-looking, but the procedures and methods of preparing molecular dishes are still conventional. I would like to change this with my concept. At first, the idea of printing food seems to be something straight out of a science-fiction movie, but on second thought it is not unrealistic at all. I even think that Moléculaire could be the future kitchen tool that opens up possibilities for food-makers interested in molecular cooking.

What are the main consumer benefits of your concept?
Moléculaire is a futuristic kitchen appliance that offers several new possibilities to professional chefs as well as home users. It’s based on a layer-by-layer printing technique that arranges small particles from a set of ingredients. Within minutes, it prints out three-dimensional desserts, complex structures, shapes for molecular dishes, and patterns for decorating a meal. In addition, it’s easy to use. You simply insert a blister pack into the reservoir, place Moléculaire on top of a plate, and press the start button. Users can also create their own recipes with special software and their own ingredients. Ambitious users can download recipes and share them with other users in an online community.

Describe the consumer research behind your concept.
I conducted interviews with chefs and did a lot of research on the Internet. These approaches helped me to understand users’ interests, concerns, wishes, needs and desires. The outcome shaped my initial ideas and helped them grow. The most difficult thing about designing for the future is predicting the possible social and technological developments (their direction and speed). Therefore, it was very useful to read reports like sociological studies about cooking and future scenarios about the development of new technologies.

What kind of materials would you use to build your concept?
For my concept, I would use polycarbonate as the main material. I plan on applying this material in three different variations, each providing the right characteristics for the different parts of my design. Transparent polycarbonate can be used for the window, black tinted for the lid/display, and white for the body. The robotic printer arm and head could be made from aluminum. A blue (O)LED backlight accentuates the processes inside the printer.

Who is your favorite designer?
I don‘t have a favorite designer.

What are your career goals?
After I graduate in 2010, I want to gain more professional experience in a product-design company. In the long term, I want to further develop my conceptual and strategic skills and step into product-related design management.

Designer : Nico Kläber

Designer : Tim Leeding

Designer : Fuego via [HomeDosh]

Designer : Electrolux via DigsDigs

From the website:
Xsmall machines have been designed to satisfy a public of young managers and career women, highly-evolved and urban consumers who live in major cities and in small homes, but who enjoy a dynamic lifestyle. Accustomed to optimizing space and time, the “new yuppies” favour functionality and essentialness in the appliances they buy, without having to surrender anything in terms of design, high performance and quality.

They spend much of their time away from home but this does not stop them creating a “homely nest” in which to enjoy quiet moments of personal pleasure: “islands of relaxation” within their frenetic and stressful daily lives. The selection of objects within the home is the result of a curiosity that drives them to try out the latest products the market offers, in a search for that something extra that makes them feel they are riding the crest of the wave.

The new automatic Xsmall machines are like small, light and compact jewels, in which are enclosed all of Saeco’s technological know-how. Characterised by an ergonomic design and rounded, sinuous forms, the Xsmall espresso coffee machines are the result of a project conducted by BMW Group DesignworksUSA, the German consultancy studio with which Saeco has worked in close collaboration for a number of years.

The new Xsmall machines are the smallest on the market in the automatic machines sector.

Thanks to the ease with which the various compartments can be extracted and to the compact design, they are perfect for small spaces to provide an extra touch of style in the smallest and most modern kitchens.

The Xsmall range has the added benefit of providing a simple and intuitive interface; all it takes to make a perfect espresso is the press of a button.

Designer : DesignWorksUSA for Saeco

The body functions as a measure when it is taken out from the weight panel. It can tare, show the time and make gram/cal exchange. It provides smaller space for storage that weight panel and the body are pulled through each other. It facilitates weight process and interface usage that control panel and weight panel are placed apart. The aim is to provide maximum usage facility in minimum space. By means of sensory mil weight, it measures the moment of the approaching surface and exchanges it for unit of measurement. Interface consists of three buttons and at the same time these buttons are used to set the hour data. When the part on the lower panel is to be folded, it is positioned on the coaxial gap on the acrylic part. The orange-colored circle is a visual complement that ensures us placing the things to be weighted on the very middle point.

Designer : Emir Rifat ISIK

Text from designer :

The idea of Cook Top Vesta is to give young, busy professionals more space to prepare their food and to give them more comfortable during the cooking. Young professionals do have mostly less space in their flats. Through a maximum flexibility in job and therefore in the place of residence they live in small apartments with a little fitted kitchen. So, the working area is very limited to prepare any food. Sinks and cook tops disturbs activities like cutting vegetables or knead the dough for the cake. In some cases you don’t need sink or cook top. Cook top vesta solve this problem through a fold up in a vertical position during the not using. So, it comes to more working area and you don’t want any extra kitchen utensils, like cutting boards to put over the sink or cook top, anymore.

It also contains a scanner that can read RFID chips, which are predicted to replace barcodes on product packages. These chips could contain information about cooking times and temperatures and even recipe suggestions. So, Vesta saves space, time and provides more comfort for the Internet generation.

Designer : Matthias Pinkert

W Residents would be sharing the building with the hotel guests in the lower portion of Manhattan, but some of the luxury facilities like the rooftop terrace, fitness center and spa in the sky, will solely be for the permanently residents staying in the upper floors of the luxury tower.

The building’s façade is not merely about aesthetics, as the bands will also create shading from the daylight, deflect heat, guarantee every residence will have the highest degree of privacy, and simultaneously frame unparalleled views out across Manhattan.

The Loft Residences on the lower levels have a double-height living area that maximizes the light entering the space. The height of the great room continues on through a gallery where a white lacquered library wall ascends up into the second level.

The upper-tier City Residences feature integrated terraces off the main living areas, and all units are custom-fitted with B&B Italia kitchens and built-ins throughout. The master bathrooms feature a circular sliding wall that allows the bathroom to become part of the bedroom and share its spectacular city views.

And for those at the top, the five ultra-luxurious Sky Penthouses are unmatched in practically every aspect. Again, B&B Italia has masterfully crafted the space, including the kitchen. Sweeping views from every room, even the master bathroom, automatically heighten the occupants’ awareness of their place in the cityscape and the surrounding environment.

Designer : Ben van Berkell via TheCoolHunter