What is the future of Kitchen Technology?

The role of the kitchen in our homes has changed dramatically over the years. What used to be a space simply used for food preparation has now become the hub of the home. Today, cooking is accompanied by a greater variety of activities such as entertaining, socialising, dining, working, laundry etc. As our use of the kitchen has changed, the technology that is used within it has had to adapt to meet our needs.

Electrolux has a many exciting and innovative products in the pipeline. And more is to come. Electrolux now has the structure for what we call the “Innovation triangle”. This enables R&D, Marketing and Design functions to work in synergy during the entire creation process, and with an even clearer focus on the customers and consumers.

Key to Electrolux’s strategy is the ongoing development of innovative and thoughtfully designed solutions based on end user insights. Now Electrolux will be able to take more relevant and innovative solutions to the market at a faster pace.

In Electrolux Design Lab we are presented with many fantastic solutions from all over the world every year. Some of the designs have been an inspiration to us when taking products to market. As long as the solutions are relevant to consumers, some of the products may definitely end up on the market.

The brief for Electrolux Design Lab 2012 challenges design students to draw inspiration from professional experience creators – such as chefs, architects, interior designers, hotel designers – to design home appliances that will provide a fuller sensory experience. Can you explain this?

SM. Chefs and creators use our appliances to achieve an even more fulfilling end product– a total gastronomic experience. The end result has to be perfect in so many aspects that they have to visualise before starting. They don’t have any construction plan to get there, but have to go entirely on their feeling and experience. That way, I think chefs are the complete designers. Therefore designers not only must understand them. We can also get a lot of inspiration from them and we want design students entering Electrolux Design Lab to do just that – create home appliance designs that will provide a fuller sensory experience.

Published by Melissa LeMieux