We spotlight 10 cutting-edge kitchen systems, materials and designer collaborations from Salone del Mobile.Milano’s biennial kitchen event EuroCucina 2024, including interviews by est editor Sophie Lewis.
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This feature originally appeared in est magazine issue #53: In the Kitchen.
The OBUMEX Signature Kitchen UMAMI with Van Rossum x Designer Thomas Haarmann
Dutch furniture brand Van Rossum and multidisciplinary designer Thomas Haarmann collaborated with bespoke Belgian kitchen and furniture brand Obumex on their UMAMI signature kitchen. First showcased at Salone del Mobile.Milano 2024, the UMAMI signature kitchen was envisioned by Thomas Haarmann as a minimalist, open-plan design that captures the companies’ shared values of hand-craftsmanship, functionality and honest materials.
The UMAMI kitchen was the centrepiece of the Van Rossum stand, set against a textured sage green backdrop and composed of obsidian brushed and grey pepper brushed oak and Belgian blue limestone, with stainless steel in a black finish. “Haarmann has skillfully stripped the design down to its core, to spotlight the artisanal craftsmanship and the profound materiality inherent in the kitchen’s composition,” Obumex third-generation owner Thomas Ostyn says. “The kitchen is an ode to simplicity, where the use of wood and natural stone is utilised as a declaration of the kitchen’s identity, enveloping its surfaces, drawers and even the inner framework of its drawers.”
Photography courtesy of Van Rossum
Photography courtesy of Van Rossum
Photography courtesy of Eggersmann
The Nami Kitchen by Yabu Pushelberg x eggersmann
For Salone del Mobile.Milano 2024, German kitchen designer and manufacturer eggersmann presented their debut collaboration with New York and Toronto- based multidisciplinary design firm Yabu Pushelberg. The Nami kitchen, crafted from stone and inspired by the Japanese kanji symbol for wave, is designed to evoke the beauty and fluidity of the ocean.
Photography courtesy of Eggersmann
Photography courtesy of Eggersmann
Congratulations on your Nami kitchen – your first collaboration with eggersmann. Where did the collaboration begin?
George Yabu: eggersmann’s Michael Wunram and Michael Brinkjost visited our office while in New York. We were excited to work with eggersmann and escalate the brand alongside them. Our co-founder Glenn is German, so there was a connection, but because of that, I said, let’s break the German rationalism in terms of aesthetic. German rationalism harnesses the best aspects of engineering. eggersmann is absolute in their resolution of details, how things form and how they function, which we resonated with straight away. The Nami kitchen is a prototype, and we’ve been working on it for three years.
The Nami kitchen has been described as not a kitchen island but a stone sculpture for the home. What was the driving idea behind this approach?
Glenn Pushelberg: Today, it’s about more than just the kitchen. The kitchen has transformed into a centre of entertainment, where people gather. Ultimately, it’s where everyone ends up hanging out at a house party. We wanted the Nami kitchen to be dynamic and facilitate an openness between hosts and guests.
Post pandemic we learned our homes needed to be flexible and our kitchens multi-functional. With the Nami, it can be a workspace and kitchen counter to cook and prepare food, and it can transform into a bar after dinner. It’s very intentional.
In cities such as New York and Tokyo, smaller living spaces are more important than ever. But people don’t want an open kitchen that takes up the principal area of their apartment. They also aren’t cooking at home. This kitchen reflects this movement; it’s designed for display, and it’s a focal point. We are currently designing a wall component – a backdrop to the sculptural design – to further conceal any mess.
Intrinsic beauty is about solving real problems. That’s intrinsic beauty rather than applied beauty, which has no lasting value.
Redduo x Very Simple: Kitchen
Very Simple: Kitchen design and make their colourful, freestanding modular kitchens in Italy, typically from metal. The kitchen brand collaborated with multidisciplinary design studio REdDUO based in Milan, to design their first 100 per cent customisable kitchen for Milan Design Week and Salone del Mobile.Milano 2024. REdDUO founders Fabiola di Virgilio and Andrea Rosso’s design is described as a warm and tactile material interpretation, highlighted through the ‘extreme roundness’ of the birch plywood edges and corners.
“For this project, we wanted to take an artisanal approach, smoothing out all the corners and integrating the kitchen countertop into curves,” REdDUO co-founder Fabiola di Virgilio says. The kitchen comes in four natural finishes with a FENIX® countertop that follows the kitchen’s profile. “We used a semi-transparent varnish that enhances the wood grain and leaves a random colour, creating a play of shadows on the surface,” REdDUO co-founder Andrea Rosso says. “It is a made-to-order project that can fit the needs of many homes.”
Photography by Matteo Bianchessi
Photography by Matteo Bianchessi
Photography by Davide Dainelli
JUNE Outdoor Kitchen by Kensaku Oshiro x Vaselli
Italian bespoke kitchen and bathroom company Vaselli have specialised in Tuscan stone designs for more than a century. During Milan Design Week and Salone del Mobile.Milano 2024, Vaselli exhibited their latest collaboration with Milan-based Japanese designer Kensaku Oshiro: the JUNE Outdoor kitchen. The kitchen takes its name from the feeling of early summer in Tuscany, inspired by open-air gatherings and the celebration of food culture.
Photography by Davide Dainelli
Congratulations on your JUNE outdoor kitchen. How did you work with Vaselli Tuscan travertine to create the JUNE kitchen?
Kensaku Oshiro: Vaselli showed me around the region, where they source the travertine and inside their factories. I was impressed by the culture around this kind of stone and how they interpret it. In the local town, everything was made with this material – the church, the roads, the pathways.
Travertine is a soft, ancient stone. It’s easy to work and resistant to time and outdoor environments. The kitchen is hollow, which is difficult to achieve, but it’s because of Vaselli’s local knowledge and craftsmanship they can achieve an incredible level of precision. Craftsmanship is everything.
The JUNE kitchen isn’t designed to be produced en mass. Tuscan travertine is a limited resource, so we have a huge responsibility. Working with a brand on a slower approach to design with this precious material was nice.
Why did you decide to detach the JUNE outdoor kitchen from the wall, and how does this create the feeling of Tuscany in summer?
Kensaku Oshiro: I wanted to detach the kitchen from the wall to support a natural circular workflow. I didn’t want to divide the cook from the diner; the design needed to be more convivial – bringing people together. Eating is about the food culture and preparation. It’s all part of the experience.
The kitchen is divided into two zones that can be individually customised according to one’s design preferences to provide different functions. There is the option for a teppanyaki grill, sink and tap for washing, and stainless steel element for food preparation.
Photography by Davide Dainelli
Ego Kitchen by Alberto Torsello x Abimis
Founded in 2013, Italian stainless steel kitchen company Abimis showcased their Ego Kitchen by Venetian architect Alberto Torsello at Salone del Mobile.Milano 2024. While not a new design, the brand describes the kitchen as a symbolic model of their dedication to bringing the tools, technologies and construction of commercial kitchens into the domestic world. Inspired by 1950s aesthetics, the kitchen is handmade from AISI 304 stainless steel, resistant to corrosion and temperatures of up to 500C°.
The made-to-measure kitchen is available in different finishes and can be customised with various modules, accessories and appliances, including refrigerated food storage compartments and heated drawers. Rounded flush doors and handles are signature design details, alongside the completely invisible stainless steel hinges.
Photography courtesy of Abimis
Photography courtesy of Abimis
The EARTHIC Stone Series by Formafantasma x Cosentino
Specialising in architectural surfaces, Cosentino teamed up with Milan-based research-driven design studio Formafantasma to present their Earthic LAB installation and stone series during Milan Design Week 2024. The collaboration intends to revolutionise the surface industry with recycled and sustainable material alternatives.
Photography courtesy of Cosentino
Photography courtesy of Cosentino
What inspired the collaboration behind the EARTHIC collection between Cosentino and Formafantasma?
Andrea Trimarchi: We both wanted to do something meaningful for the company and add something long-lasting. What was interesting is that we didn’t receive a brief, instead, we constructed the brief together based on many conversations that we had.
From the beginning, we wanted to make the product more sustainable. We started at the factory by reviewing the company’s waste streams and exploring what was possible to recycle; then, we moved on to finding recycled glass and PET (plastic) in the area. We also introduced a resin that, while still synthetic for the majority, partly uses recovered cooking oil. It has an organic component. Of course, there were some raw materials we had to source from other areas, but we tried as much as possible to work with what was available at and around the factory. The process for EARTHIC was designed from the inside out.
How does the EARTHIC® collection address sustainability within the context of design and architecture?
Simone Farresin: The EARTHIC collection aims to raise awareness about the importance of design beyond aesthetics and prioritises sustainable production processes. As far as the designs, our three-colour series is called EARTHIC/FFROM and includes a light grey tone, a darker grey, and an anthracite tone – all of which show the speckle of white from the recycled PET fragments in different forms that naturally create a complex pattern on the surface. Being made with Hybriq+® technology means it is produced with 100 per cent renewable electrical energy and 99 per cent recycled water.
What we hoped people took away from the installation is an understanding of EARTHIC LAB and its components and that design is not only about aesthetics but also about how things are produced. We often talk about quality in production, which is about the product’s performance and aesthetic, but rarely do we talk about the decision- making behind how they are made.
Photography by Alberto Strada
The Ratio Kitchen by david/nicolas x Marsotto
Over the past 200 years, Marsotto have transformed marble and stone from Verona, Italy, with a focus on architectural detailing. The company launched a new modular kitchen Ratio for Milan Design Week 2024, made entirely from stone, designed by Milan, Beirut and San Francisco-based designers david/nicolas. “This kitchen features modular marble panels and delicate inlays,” david/nicolas founder David Raffoul says. “This combination is notable for its strong identity, incorporating a touch of artisan history through precious contrast or tone-on-tone inlays.”
The small circular inlaid forms reference Marsotto’s time- honoured processing system, with a corresponding bar trolley that reflects the kitchen’s modules. “The Ratio kitchen is not only functional but pivotal to its surroundings: a visual statement celebrating a union of design, craftsmanship and history,” David adds.
Photography by Alberto Strada
V3 Kitchen by Vipp
Danish kitchen, furniture and accessories brand Vipp took to the Salone del Mobile.Milano stage for the first time in 2024 to unveil their new V3 kitchen. Designed ‘on the shoulders’ of Vipp’s original V1 kitchen, first released in 2011, the V3 kitchen departs from the industrial black-coated steel as an extruded aluminium counterpart.
Staying true to the Vipp freestanding kitchen design, the V3 kitchen has raised legs and is available in an island, wall or tall module. Featuring a rounded stainless steel benchtop, the kitchen is clad in naturally anodised aluminium with ‘vertically extruded profiles’ that curve around the edges – inspired by the staircase design in the Vipp Chimney guesthouse in Copenhagen.
“The new V3 has allowed us to combine valuable know-how from our first kitchen with our legacy of metalwork in a visual expression that is both compelling and innovative,” Vipp CEO Kasper Egelund says. The kitchen was first photographed at the beginning of the year in Vipp’s latest design destination, located in Cold Hawaii, Denmark.
Photography by Alberto Strada
Photography by Alberto Strada
Floral+Virtus by makethatstudio x L’Ottocento
L’Ottocento is known for its handmade Italian timber kitchens and furniture. At Salone del Mobile.Milano 2024, the company released their kitchen collection Floral + Virtus designed by Italian design duo makethatstudio, marking a new style, use of materials and finishes. The collection features their new brushed stainless steel Virtus island with brass handles and two cylindrical bases, designed in ‘contrasting harmony’ with the timber wall panelling.
The full-height Floral walnut panelling expresses L’Ottocento’s artisanal cabinetmaking. The panelling is structured with internal compartments, concealing appliances, storage and shelving. It also comprises retractable doors to reveal an area for washing up, featuring a stainless steel benchtop, splashback, shelving, joinery, tap, and sink. Doors, also masked by the panelling on either side of this niche, are designed to connect the kitchen with a formal dining space.
Photography courtesy of L’Ottocento
Photography courtesy of L’Ottocento
Photography by Fabian Frinzel
The S-line Kitchen by Orea x Bodo Sperlein Studio
London-based designer Bodo Sperlein conceived and curated the ‘Menu 1’ exhibition during Milan Design Week and Salone del Mobile.Milano 2024, held within a courtyard and the cloisters of the Sant’Angelo Monastery. In an immersive display of different brands and their new collections, the spotlight was on the designer’s debut S-Line kitchen for the bespoke Swiss kitchen, bathroom and furniture brand Orea.
Bodo Sperlein set out to redefine the kitchen as an art form, focusing on soft details with brass and lacquered timber. Taking its name from its shape, the timber has been chosen for its silk-like finish and resistance to wear and tear. At the same time, the curved brass benchtop and sink by sheet metal specialists Morath AG Design exemplify the designer’s passion for culinary craftsmanship. The kitchen also includes a sliding door mechanism by Swiss furniture brand Wogg. Above, Bodo Sperlein also launched his Mega Script Long chandelier for Austrian lighting brand LOBMEYR Lighting, in dialogue with the kitchen’s design.
Photography by Fabian Frinzel