Modern Kitchen Islands
17 September 2008
“And All That Jazz”
A great many kitchen designs these days feature islands, and these, in turn, come in all sizes, shapes, and configurations. You can cook on them, wash dishes on them, prepare food on them, and eat on them. Really, the sky’s the limit because all that limits you is imagination, and as we have so often pointed out, that seems not to be much of an impediment these days. Well, OK, maybe for you and me it is, but a quick search on the Internet turns up an absolutely astonishing number of innovative kitchen designs, many of which feature islands, and some of these islands, in turn, are just incredibly innovative. And that brings us to the subject of this blog.
GeD Cucine is an Italian maker of kitchens, and Argento Vivo (quicksilver) is one of their more innovative kitchen designs. Looking at the polished steel work station end of the island, and noting how carefully they rounded the ends, it’s not hard to guess why this particular kitchen bears the name quicksilver. As it turns out, in fact, it is well-named for several reasons.
It’s interesting what you learn on the Internet. I had always thought the Roman god Mercury was a messenger for the gods—which he was—but I thought that was all he was. Well, as it turns out, he was also the god of trade, profit, and commerce, and that, in turn, has some relevance to this blog, because I Googled the element Mercury, which, you may remember, is also known as quicksilver. But looking at how well every aspect of this kitchen fits together, one quickly gets the impression that those who named it quicksilver were also thinking of Mercury, god of profit and commerce, because this one’s sure to be a real money-maker. What GeD Cucine has done with their quicksilver (a.k.a. Argento Vivo) is a fusing of shape and material that is nothing short of a triumph.
At one end there is an acid-etched glass table that is illuminated from within, for that extra touch of elegance. One of the things my wife and I remember with a great deal of affection is the time we went to the movies and came back to a late-night supper of roast beef sandwiches and beer, which we had by candlelight, but the prospect of doing something like that round a table like this one is an intriguing thought, I can tell you.
The other end of the island is polished steel, and it contains the working elements of the kitchen. There is a flush-mount sink with an unobtrusive tap that returns to the upright position only when needed and a stove with thick polished steel pan supports. And one of the cooler elements of this particular island is that both the sink and the stove can be accessed from either side of the island.
But the best part, I think, is the way glass and steel meet. If you sight down the island you can see that these two elements have been seamed together flawlessly, with neither gap nor difference in height, a perfect marriage of fire and ice, as it were.
Finally, the storage unit at the rear of this kitchen is an exercise in both minimalism and elegance, a wondrously curved element that complements the kitchen island. There is plenty of storage here and two new Electrolux ovens.
If yours is a kitchen where space is at a premium, you might want to consider something like the luminous glow of quicksilver. It’s all that you need and all that gleams. And all that jazz.
Joseph
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