Eurocucina 2012: The continuous evolution of timeless kitchen designs

Restyling Snaidero’s iconic IDEA kitchen

Timeless kitchen designs are those that blend harmoniously into any home architecture and complement any interiors style. They are those that continue to be popular, generation after generation, defying trends and lifestyle changes. They accomplish this by meeting a delicate balance of tradition and innovation.

Timeless doesn’t mean immutable. On the contrary, the classic designs are those that evolve to stay fresh and relevant while maintaining their core characteristics.

Such is IDEA, Snaidero’s most iconic cabinetry line; the very first handle-free kitchen, now 40 years old. Even at a trade show like Eurocucina, which exists to showcase the industry’s new influences, IDEA doesn’t feel out of place because it’s a living homage to
the past, present, and future of kitchen design.

IDEA's first version

After its first re-styling in the ‘80s, in 2000 IDEA was given a few refining accents by Snaidero’s design partner, Pininfarina. This week, it’s being shown at the Milan Fair after having been re-interpreted once more.

The new design – always by Pininfarina – is pure, rigorous, technological; a fine combination of design, engineering efficiency, and craftsmanship. The model’s core features, its elegance and clear contrasts of volumes and materials, live on in a more distinguished, more contemporary version where everything, from colors to lines and structures, is an ode to simplicity. It’s a form of minimalism that manages to be emotional and visually stimulating thanks to its bi-chromatic vitality, the integrated light on the boiserie, the 45° beveled door’s edge mirroring the profile of the countertop, and the recessed channel sculpting the lines.

The two levels of the countertop play with negative space to give the structure movement and functional rationality, while the whole composition is perfectly suited to an open floor plan. And here’s an interesting decor idea: incorporating a receptacle to grow plants or aromatic herbs on your kitchen island.

With the evolution of the design comes that of its finishes, like the range of high-gloss metallic lacquers, originally introduced by Snaidero in the ‘90s, when Pininfarina first brought automotive technology into the kitchen. The new metallic varnish is enriched by thin metal flakes which give the cabinets’ surface a precious look, without excessive ostentation.

All in all, IDEA40 is an elegant kitchen that speaks of exclusivity and long-lasting quality; a discreet design presence that can nonetheless fill up a space and make it extremely personal, generation after generation.

More about Snaidero at Eurocucina and new kitchen trends coming soon.