Underscoring the idea that the kitchen is both a social hub and a place of innovation and transformation, Dornbracht, manufacturer of premium kitchen and bath faucets, has created a novel exhibit celebrating the diversity and ingenuity of actual street “kitchens.” Entitled Global Street Food, the installation includes a Vietnamese market boat laden with soft drinks and fresh vegetables, a Sudanese tea stand made from recycled tires and tin cans, and a charcuterie cart from Argentina, crafted from a shopping cart and bulletin board. It is part of the acclaimed Art Basel expo, debuting June 10, in the Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein, Germany, and open to the public until July 12.
Conceived by Dornbracht’s creative and brand director Mike Meiré, the project highlights the contrast between industrial perfection and total improvisation.
By examining these widely varied displays, dismantled and shipped from their native countries and reassembled in exacting detail within the context of a pristine white space, visitors can evaluate the importance of function over form in kitchen design.
“The possibility of creating a mobile, functional unit in the smallest of spaces is fascinating,” Meiré explained. “Can we manage to create a complete kitchen in two square meters? What should it look like and how should it work? These explorations lead to new and more complex kitchen solutions. It’s about being aware of the kind of kitchen you really need for your lifestyle, and then developing the design.”
Global Street Food, which premiered at IMM Cologne furniture fair in January 2009, marks the latest cultural coup from Dornbracht and Meiré. In 2007, they offered the antidote to a high-tech, minimalist design aesthetic with The FARM Project, a walk-in kitchen stocked with live farm animals and housed in a simple barn-like structure. Intended to reconnect visitors to the source of their food and return vitality to lifeless kitchens, The FARM Project was presented at the Milan Furniture Fair in 2006, followed by coveted spots in 2007 at the Sculpture Projects Münster and Art Basel Miami. Both Global Street Food and The FARM Project are part of Dornbracht Edges, a series of projects that reflect the intersection of architecture, design and art. The Edges are platforms for designers and architects to depict their visions and utopias, with projects as diverse as they are eye-opening.
The promotion of art and culture has been an integral part of Dornbracht’s corporate culture since 1997. The company’s commitment is divided into several areas, which have developed separately and parallel since the first edition of the Statements Projects in 1997. As part of the Statements series, between 1997 and 2003, Dornbracht regularly presented free interpretations on the subject of “cleansing rituals” by internationally renowned artists, photographers, writers, musicians and designers. Since 1998 Dornbracht has addressed the general public with the Dornbracht Sponsorships, which included supporting the German project for the 48th and 49th Biennale of contemporary art in Venice. Since 2000, the exhibition series Dornbracht Installation Projects® has been based on the idea of presenting contemporary artistic positions in the field of installation. In 2005 Dornbracht launched the Performance series and transported its commitment into a new discipline: the temporary, situational character of a performance.
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