Anna Puigjaner
Metropolis Magazine|January 2018

Few spaces of the home are as coveted as the kitchen. But this architect is showing the way out of these wasteful private cooking boxes toward more efficient “shared” alternatives.

Samuel Medina
Anna Puigjaner

“First of all,” says Anna Puigjaner, to clear the air, “I love to cook.” Not a particularly startling admission, but Puigjaner, a young architect and researcher living in Barcelona, has just been enumerating the virtues of kitchenless homes. Her sales pitch for communal cooking is framed by a recitation of social ills. Americans waste 30 percent, or the equivalent of $48 billion, of consumable food annually. We spend half our waking lives cleaning our homes, and kitchens take up a lot of that time. Meanwhile, the growing elderly population has few socialization outlets, and the young, employed or not, suffer from intense alienation. Centralizing food preparation within residential buildings is a sensible way, she says, to address all these problems.

She is well aware of how contentious she sounds: “The kitchen is the most provocative part of the house. It has been used as a political tool for a long time, to the point that nowadays we can’t accept living without a kitchen.”

Still, the notion of a kitchenless middle-class home is nearly as old in America as industrialization itself. From the mid-19th century to the early 20th century, feminists, often with the help of architects, envisioned houses and apartments lacking all the equipment necessary for food preparation—counter space, sinks, larders—and compensating for it with centralized cooking and housekeeping facilities. These were to be staffed by professionals, thereby freeing women from unending, uninteresting housework. “It was actually normal to hire a professional cook to cook for you, because they thought that a professional cook would know how to better source and prepare nutritious ingredients,” Puigjaner explains. “You see how our mentality has completely changed!”

This story is from the January 2018 edition of Metropolis Magazine.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the January 2018 edition of Metropolis Magazine.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM METROPOLIS MAGAZINEView All
No New Buildings
Metropolis Magazine

No New Buildings

The energy already embodied in the built environment is a precious unnatural resource. It’s time to start treating it like one.

time-read
7 mins  |
November/December 2019
The Circular Office
Metropolis Magazine

The Circular Office

Major manufacturers are exploring every avenue to close the loop on workplace furniture.

time-read
1 min  |
November/December 2019
Signs of Life
Metropolis Magazine

Signs of Life

Designers, curators, and entrepreneurs are scrambling to make sense of motherhood in a culture that’s often hostile to it.

time-read
7 mins  |
November/December 2019
Interspecies Ethic
Metropolis Magazine

Interspecies Ethic

In probing the relationship between humans and nature, two major exhibitions question the very foundations of design practice.

time-read
6 mins  |
November/December 2019
Building on Brand
Metropolis Magazine

Building on Brand

The Bauhaus turned 100 this year, and a crop of museum buildings sprang up for the celebration.

time-read
8 mins  |
November/December 2019
Building for Tomorrow, Today
Metropolis Magazine

Building for Tomorrow, Today

Radical change in the building industry is desperately needed. And it cannot happen without the building trades.

time-read
6 mins  |
November/December 2019
Strength from Within
Metropolis Magazine

Strength from Within

Maggie’s Centres, the service-focused cancer support network, eschews clinical design to arm patients in their fight for life.

time-read
5 mins  |
October 2019
Next-Level Living
Metropolis Magazine

Next-Level Living

The availability of attractive, hospitality-grade products on the market means everyday consumers can live the high life at home.

time-read
1 min  |
October 2019
Mi Casa, Su Casa
Metropolis Magazine

Mi Casa, Su Casa

Casa Perfect creates a memorable shopping experience in lavish private homes.

time-read
1 min  |
October 2019
Enter The Culinarium
Metropolis Magazine

Enter The Culinarium

AvroKO imagines the future of residential amenities—where convenience, comfort, and sustainability meet.

time-read
5 mins  |
October 2019