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Indoor-Outdoor: a new trend in metropolitan living
The latest trend in open-air cooking combines the traditional way of preparing food with the fun of doing so in the company of friends and neighbours. In addition, the advent of novel materials and technologies has led to outdoor furnishings that are increasingly appealing, in terms of both design and performance. The result is a brand new craze that is taking hold.
Spaces that were formerly dedicated to cultivating plants and flowers, or to relaxing on comfortable garden furniture while enjoying the occasional barbecue or a summer cocktail, are now turning into veritable cooking stations with outdoor furnishings suitable for welcoming guests for a day out in the open air. Two main trends are developing, mainly in a metropolitan environment, where terraces or small gardens become the protagonists. The former involves keeping the kitchen environment within the living space, but equipping it with wide windows that give access to a terrace or a garden, thereby becoming a so-called Indoor-Outdoor Kitchen. The outlook, when the summer season allows, is directly over the garden, as if the environment were seamless.
Helios | Design Vincent Van Duysen
The other solution is to achieve a much more functional outdoor kitchen, with a contemporary design that goes way beyond the traditional wood-fired pizza oven or the barbecue for grilling meat. Outdoor kitchens are a technological marvel, because they are designed to ensure excellent performance despite exposure to the open air. With Vincent Van Duysen design, Molteni&C offer a sophisticated solution skillfully produced by Dada Engineering, where the kitchen block combines both cooking and washing-up functions. Further matching furnishings, such as tables and chairs, which fit into the kitchen block, serve the purpose of being closer to Nature in a modern and functional way.
Helios | Design Vincent Van Duysen
Helios | Design Vincent Van Duysen
Dada Engineered
Dada Engineered is a seal of innovation that certifies the care and attention that Molteni&C has always dedicated to designing kitchens.
DESIGN
Molteni&C kitchens are designed by the world’s most prestigious architects. These are kitchens of timeless elegance, to be lived in for many years to come. Their up-to-date designs suit contemporary homes with a nod to the future.
Design and experimentation, innovation and functionality, aesthetics and technology: these are the features of these kitchens, which meet every need. In these exclusive domestic spaces, everything is functional yet hidden from view. Elements such as screws, supports, mechanisms, washing areas, cooking areas and lighting are practical yet non-intrusive, and fit seamlessly within the project.
Design expertise results in elegantly practical kitchens marked by full and empty volumes, compartments in different thicknesses fastened to solid structures in an elegant play of balance and harmony. The materials are natural and precious, the finishes understated and textured. Every object thus acquires the intrinsic charm of an architectural furnishing element.
TECHNOLOGY
The design and style of Molteni&C meet the innovation of Dada Engineered, with uniquely exclusive results. Innovative solutions of a timeless allure, built to suit the customer’s needs. An innovative offering in terms of form, technology and type, developed through continuous research carried out in collaboration with architects and designers. A high technological expertise, both in the field of woodworking and in that of new materials such as metals, making it possible to meet any specific project requirement.
INNOVATION PIONEERS
Dada Engineered has always produced its elements in compliance with the strictest standards, to ensure products of superior technology and quality. Today, Dada Engineered’s strategy focuses on remaining up-to-date and pursuing innovative solutions.
In accordance with this spirit, it has revolutionised the industry by introducing unique elements such as the Tivalì technical column, an invisible closing mechanism, the engineering system behind the Ratio supports, and Banco, the first suspended kitchen designed by Luca Meda, made up of a patented freestanding structure that can support suspended storage units. In terms of maximising space, there’s the Trim accessorised back panel, introducing new space between the worktop and the wall units.
Then there’s the handle applied to thin doors with no fixing screws, which becomes an integral part of the door itself; there’s D|Frame, one of the first wall units to open electrically by as much as 240 cm; and much more besides, such as Dante Bonuccelli's Tivalì 2.0 – the disappearing kitchen. When its doors are open, they remain aligned with the front pieces of the adjacent modules. Of course, Dada’s expertise has been acclaimed since 1987, when it received a special mention at the Compasso d’Oro for the Futura kitchen designed by Kairos. This centred around a patented wall unit whose hidden mechanism – a vertical, folding opening system with an equaliser, allowing for the use of all the interior space – remains to this day one of Dada Engineered's most innovative products.
Tivalì 2.0 by Yabu Pushelberg | Design Yabu Pushelberg
Ratio | Design Vincent Van Duysen
BESPOKE APPROACH
Every project is exclusive; every kitchen is unique. In-house design and production make it possible to create bespoke kitchens tailored to the needs of those who use them. A challenge whereby rational, versatile ideas turn into real living kitchens. Technical details tailored to become solid architectural elements built to last. This creative process always reinvents itself in line with changing needs and projects that reflect the personality of the customer. Spaces to interpret, changing contexts, kitchens that become architectural elements of the home. Models that are different, in terms of type, finishes and materials, but have one thing in common: the possibility to combine different elements of each series to create original solutions.
Kitchens are everyday spaces that exist to meet an immediate functional goal. When well designed, they are highly calibrated to support the convenient preparation of food.
In the centre of Milan, a short walk from the duomo, is Villa Necchi Campiglio, designed by Piero Portaluppi (1888-1967) for the Necchi Campiglio family between 1932 and 1935.
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