Photographer: True Design | Parisotto+Formenton
The all-purpose kitchen is born
What ideas are spawned when a designer delivers a university project seminar on open-plan kitchens? Ideas for a kitchen that can blend into any environment from an office to a luxury villa. At least, that’s what happened at the POLI.design university in Milan where designer and architect Parisotto Aldo worked with students to create the versatile Wing Kitchen.
Designers Parisotto Aldo and Massimo Formenton have created countless products in their studio Parisotto+Formenton, including the Wing table for True Design. It was originally conceived as an office table, but it works just as well as a dining table in a residential setting, albeit in a smaller size. In the centre of the table’s elongated, oval-shaped wooden tabletop is a narrow channel where acoustic panels or reading lamps can be connected using a magnetic mounting system. The central channel can also be used to hide cables and power connections. The hybrid table now has a new use function as a kitchen unit, which was conceived during a project seminar given by designer Parisotto Aldo at the POLI.design school in Milan. And so, the Wing Kitchen was born.
From table to kitchen unit
Although you cannot ignore the similarities between the Wing Kitchen and the original table design, it is still extremely distinctive. The tabletop has become the worktop, and instead of acoustic panels and reading lights, a slimline shelving frame rises from the middle, containing spice racks and places to store and hang kitchen items. LED strip lighting is also integrated into the frame. There is storage in cupboards and drawers, which hang down from the worktop as if floating. While you can use the one side of the 4.5 m-long and 1.5 m-wide island to prepare meals, you can use the other side to eat them. A hob, sink, oven and work surfaces turn the “cooking side” into a complete kitchen, while the “eating side” can be turned into a dining table with chairs or stools.
From historic building to Bauhaus villa
The idea spawned during the seminar was brought to life with the help of Italian company Frigo2000. Specialists in exquisite kitchen equipment, they expertly kitted out the kitchen with cutting-edge appliances that do not detract from the airiness of the Wing Kitchen design. The BORA Basic cooktop with integrated extractor, for example, blends in seamlessly with the tabletop. The all black special edition of the air inlet nozzle echoes both the colour and the shape of the kitchen table design, adding to the interesting contrast of soft, curvy lines with slender profiles in a black industrial style. It’s a combination that creates a sense of timeless elegance. This means that the kitchen island unit suits almost any environment, from a historic building to a Bauhaus villa, from an office common room to a home kitchen.
Design Team
True Design | Frigo2000 | Parisotto+Formenton | POLI.design
Photographer: True Design | Parisotto+Formenton
Photographer: True Design | Parisotto+Formenton
Photographer: True Design | Parisotto+Formenton
Photographer: True Design | Parisotto+Formenton
Photographer: True Design | Parisotto+Formenton