How COVID will affect Architecture - More Home Cooking

How does more home cooking affect architecture? Home cooking has always changed architecture. For example in the 1980's Italian double glazed ceramic tiles with cute motifs and accent strips were a big hit in selling private properties in Singapore. The economy and family changed in the 1990's and private homes required 2 sets of kitchen, a continental kitchen and an Asain (wet) kitchen. During this time the requirements on 1st storey became complicated having a maid's room and a grannny room with 2 kitchen and possibly 2 bathrooms (1 for granny and 1 for maid) all squashed into the back of a 6m wide house.

THE HUMBLE ASIAN KITCHEN USED TO BE THE ONLY KITCHEN IN THE HOUSE

BESPOKE CROSS BETWEEN CONTINENTAL AND ASIAN KITCHEN

From the year 2000, homes had fascination for open plan kitchens which over time end users discovered their sofa becoming oily. In came the 1000 horse power extractor which alleviated the oily phenomenon by a bit thereby reinforcing once again the dream of the open plan kitchen.

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Seen as a unify element for the family or household, the kitchen now is on the forefront taking over the fire place, then the tube radio and TV.

The blog entry here today is about how Covid epidemic will make you cook more at home and how this may become a change.

With epidemic lock down world wide , the public first rushed to the shops to get anything that can make food, because the restaurants and food outlets maybe shut indefinitely. Things bought were

Oats / Cereal / Grains (rice,wheat, flour etc)
Butter / Jam / Marmalade / all sorts of spread
Preserved vegetable/ smoked meat / processed meat (sausage, luncheon, patties etc)

Prepared junk food / chocolates / chips / crackers / biscuits / buns

The next tier of foods were perishables:

Meat / Fish / Vegetables / Fruits / Bread / Eggs

All of these are asking you to prepare food. The catch is that our current generation of living exposes us to a large variety of food because of globalization. One day we are having Japanese, the next day we are having Italian then French and then back to Chinese food which every culture eats now. We are also heavily exposed to products with eggs like noodles and cakes.

So what happens when you get bored cooking the same instant noodle or fried luncheon? You begin to explore new menu with the limitation of what your kitchen can do and the ingredients available.

It is only this generation that instead of looking for cook books we refer to YOUTUBE for guidance.

Although some may claim instructions on video never lets you really taste the food, some nuance of the process helps the person watching have way-finding what to do.

This way-finding begins to mold your perception how the kitchen should be starting with the choice of crockery, then the equipment like steam oven or maybe even dishwasher.

You might consider concealed flame cooking, induction hob or even charcoal burners. Japanese cooking range commonly comes with broilers, while European oven are multi-function to steam and make convection heating.

JAPANESE COOKING RANGE COMES WITH GRILLER. CHECK IT OUT !
(i am not promoting this product by the way)

You will develop a strong sense of how each equipment used is to your advantage like a coriander, or what type of forceps, or spatula or ladle works best for the cuisine you are making. You might also develop a sense of how farming is done.

Humans however, get bored very easily, which is why you will begin to invite people over to try your cooking once you garner enough confidence and this is where you know what the entire interior of the house works for you. (Imagine your friends sitting on your oily couch ! Wouldn't that change the style of your cuisine to save the couch? Or perhaps an enclosed fryer that emits less oil into the air).

Your kitchen space now demands a more participative quality. Larger island top, Multiple sinks, multiple location power points, multiple cooking hob, multiple sitting for conversation,  small production line sensibility in arranging how people can work together. However, encouraging participation means bringing other people into your private space. Hence, the space planning requires more study in defining where is more private.

demarcation of private spaces becomes import once

you invite more people into the home

More important, panic buy during this pandemic outbreak has asked users where to stock their food up. In Singapore, most new homes have Household Shelter, a storage room like Bomb Shelter. Never before has the kitchen become related to this Household shelter. (Will write a separate blog about household shelter !)

So, prioritizing type of prepared food in dry, preserved, processed packed food become a home planing issue, followed up a storage scheme. The household shelter is now the pantry storage for the kitchen ! Don't forget , all that storage will expire if not eaten, this means you need a schedule to consume them before expiry.

Those of you who were fortunate to have this layout, you would have utilized it better instead of putting the maid in the household shelter.

Unfortunately, not all apartment had the household shelter designed as a pantry storage in mind. They were designed more as a store room to clear authority requirements.

In fact, Singaporeans are clueless what to do with the house hold shelter other than the use as a store or to put the maid sleeping there.

Once you do home cooking, the sequence of food made becomes an important thing to observe. Unlike opening packets of different food to serve, cooking involves workflow. This workflow if done efficiently will help you to handle lunch and dinner quickly with less interference with your work time:

Even hand dish washing needs an efficient workflow because you don't want washing dish to interfere with your "work from home" timing.

info-graphic of how to hand wash dishes seriously

So then you will begin to ponder Machine Dishwashing. So you think about purchase of equipment and gizmos again.

IN SHORT,  COOKING FROM HOME BECAUSE OF COVID LOCK-DOWN INSPIRES:

1. WORK FLOW KNOW HOW

2. THEORY TO PRACTICE ARTICULATION BY WATCHING YOUTUBE INSTRUCTION INTO ACTUAL COOKING

3. TIME USAGE CONSCIOUSNESS

4. PLANNING THAT HOUSEHOLD SHELTER

5. KITCHEN DESIGN THAT ALLOWS PARTICIPATION

6. DISCERNMENT OF YOUR DIET

7. DISCERNMENT OF FARMING (ON A SUPERFICIAL LEVEL)

How does this affect architecture?

a. larger kitchens

b. more space for equipment for long term usage

c. communicable and participative spaces

d. itinerary of home space arrangement

e. separation of guest from private areas in space planing

f. long term storage planing

thank you for reading !