ROOM PLANNING: Kitchen & Dining Areas

The parts of a home where food is prepared and consumed form one of the prime areas where family and other residents come together.  In the 20th Century kitchens evolved from utilitarian areas that were seldom seen by the consumers of the food, to the social center of the home.  Cooking and preparation of food is now often seen as a primary recreational interest of one or more family member.  As the usages of the kitchen changed, the dining areas also were reordered, with eating areas now often in much closer proximity to the kitchen, and formal dining rooms not used as often.  However there is also a countertrend in the resurgence of the dinner party, which would probably require a space more separated from the kitchen.   The following questions will help in giving focus to your own orientation to these important rooms. 

 How often will more than one person be cooking in your home?

 
Do you both enjoy cooking?  Who does the majority of the cooking?

  
Do you regularly dine together?

 
Do you have specialized cooking equipment in mind?  If so, please describe it.

 
The average kitchen has about 18 lineal feet of countertop, excluding range or sink.  Do you envision needing more or less space?  What type of countertop [tile, stone, wood, laminate] would you prefer?

  
Do you have any food-related interests or hobbies [e.g. gardening, wine collecting, specialized cooking]?  If so, what needs do these hobbies have in the kitchen?

  
Would you like a kitchen with many of the implements hanging from racks etc. or one with the gear cabinets? 

I learned basic design and hand drafting at UW Stout and it was in my years Taliesin that I was exposed to AutoCad.  The program has almost limitless levels of sophistication, but what most engaged me about it was it's precision. We draw the elements exactly to size, and it is a fact that they will either line up perfectly, or something is wrong. 

At the same time, the pencil still has its place. When a project is being conceived,  handdrawing somehow does a better job of keeping the whole thing in ones head without that concern for minutia. Then, when the concept is down, shift to the computer and make it all fit. Basically, the looseness of the pencil works to my advantage in the early stages and the precision of the CAD works in the later stages.

Broadly speaking, we would begin with conversation, then to written text, then to diagrammatics then to drawings. Graphics move from fairly loose sketchwork,  to the precision drawings of CAD. It is accurate to say that the progression is always  from the general to the specific.

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The Design Process                       

I establish a program by talking with the clients, and visiting their site.  They receive a questionnaire in which impressions regarding color, materials and methods can be noted.  The hard-data kind of thing is important, but so is information about how they live, why they like their site, what possibilities and limitations they see in the project. 

I often start with pencil then surf to the computer when the concept is down.  I would build a study model, probably do some perspective work.  Definitely the idea is that each step should answer questions posed by the previous step and frame questions for the next step.  As I design a project, I am mentally building it, constantly thinking of what it will take in terms of logistics, materials, and money.  My construction background never really goes away, although I'm more adventuresome now than I was before Taliesin.

 So what else?  My projects are buildable and not wildly expensive [or rock bottom cheap].   I work myself hard, keeping in mind that I'm operating with the client’s money.  

And I have a sense of adventure about the whole thing.