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Kitchen as Threshold
Kitchen as Threshold
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Kitchen as Threshold
Firm
STATUS
Concept
SIZE
0 sqft - 1000 sqft
BUDGET
$0 - 10K
A structure between living, producing, and coexisting
In the age of digital mobility, space is no longer bound to singular functions; portability, multi-connectivity, and spatial ambiguity have redefined the everyday landscape. Today, a library, a café, or a kitchen is no longer confined to its original role — each can become a workspace, a social interface, or a site of production.
While this transformation has already taken root in public and semi-public realms, the real question lies in how such multifunctionality can be integrated into the domestic scale — particularly within spatial constraints.
How can the interior spaces of the home respond to these shifting practices of production?
How might personal privacy be redefined within shared environments?
How can the focus and intentionality once found outside the home be reconstructed within it? By isolating oneself in a closed room? Or by establishing new spatial conditions that allow life and labor to coexist — without erasing the rhythms of domesticity?
In this context, the kitchen is reconsidered not simply as a place for cooking or consumption, but as a threshold space — a site where work, care, production, and ecological consciousness converge.
________________________________________
New Possibilities – New Necessities
The aim was to frame the kitchen not only as a space for food preparation and consumption but as a generative platform. This notion of “production” goes beyond cooking and includes crafts, technological activities, online communication, and urban agriculture. Today’s kitchen design integrates with smartphones, tablets, smart home appliances, motion sensors, and robotic systems. Concepts like zero-waste living, recycled materials, renewable energy, vertical farming, hydroponic and aquaponic systems are now critical urban necessities.
________________________________________
The Heart of Domestic Life
A multi-purpose kitchen is proposed at the intersection of domestic circulation and storage zones — at the very heart of the home. It accommodates activities ranging from reading and remote work to cooking, vertical gardening, listening to music, and even hands-on making.
Rather than isolating oneself from others, this spatial strategy fosters coexistence. Everyday actions can unfold “side by side” and “together,” offering a more collective form of domestic productivity.
________________________________________
Boundary
The boundary between the kitchen and the rest of the living space is softened through a metal framework that allows for visual and auditory continuity. Instead of a closed room or a single-opened façade, the kitchen is redefined as a space with transparent borders that integrate with surrounding areas.
In daily life, this permeability becomes a spatial interface — for example, between a parent and a child. Instead of retreating to a closed kitchen, the parent remains visible and present, allowing the child to move freely while maintaining proximity and comfort.
________________________________________
Planting – Oxygen
We view the kitchen not just as a site of food preparation but as a production atelier. One of the project's core motivations is to introduce greenery into the space — enhancing psychological well-being and boosting motivation. Growing and caring for plants indoors reconnects the user with the restorative effects of nature.
The design aims to translate the conceptual idea of the kitchen as “the heart of the home” into a physiological and atmospheric reality by improving air quality and contributing to spatial comfort through plants.
________________________________________
Modulation – Personalization – Belonging
The kitchen is embedded within a structural frame composed of 15x15 mm metal profiles. Through an adaptable modular system, it can respond to various spatial contexts and user needs. Cabinets, shelves, vertical gardens, domestic furniture (buffets and display systems), and storage units can all be integrated.
This open shelving system enhances personalization and strengthens the sense of belonging. The modules may also serve as a library, wardrobe, or even exhibition surface — depending on context.
________________________________________
Technology
Technology in this proposal is not an imposition but a layer integrated into the existing domestic logic. A touch-screen embedded in the upper cabinetry provides access to video calls, recipe tutorials, news, music, and other daily functions. Smart devices allow remote control of plant irrigation, lighting, and climate settings.
A hydraulic table doubles as a workspace or dining surface, while integrated features like ring light, power/data outlets, and device mounts support online meetings. The system assumes that all domestic appliances can connect and interact within a shared digital ecosystem.
________________________________________
Vertical Farming – Urban Agriculture – Foodscaping
In addition to their aesthetic and psychological benefits, edible plants bring functionality. “Foodscaping” — the beautification of personal gardens for agricultural use — has become a key strategy for micro-scale sustainability.
Producing herbs, vegetables, and fruits within the kitchen enhances food security and minimizes the carbon footprint associated with mass agriculture and transportation. Vertical farming, combined with hydroponic and aquaponic techniques, allows for year-round cultivation inside the home. Using red/blue spectrum LEDs and drip irrigation, up to 100 types of crops can be grown in vertical modules.
A built-in composting system converts organic kitchen waste into nutrient-rich soil, completing a circular micro-ecology.
________________________________________
Recycling – Reuse – Plastiglomerate – The Anthropocene
We live in the Anthropocene — an epoch defined by the irreversible impact of human activity on the biosphere. Designers now carry an ethical and strategic responsibility in material selection. Recent data shows that Greenland lost 586 billion tons of ice in 2019 alone. If this trend continues, 25 million people may be displaced annually by 2100.
This calls for a radical shift toward recycled and repurposed materials. Plastiglomerate — a hybrid material formed by the fusion of plastic with organic and inorganic matter — is one such innovation. When compacted, it becomes a hygienic surface with various textures and colors.
This proposal incorporates Plastiglomerate as a countertop material, demonstrating how waste can be reimagined as a constructive and expressive architectural element.
*This project was awarded third prize in the “Kitchen as the Heart of the Home” conceptual competition organized by Gante Academy in 2021.
Design Team:
Evren Öztürk (Lead Architect)
Ceren Öztürk (Architect)
Ozan Kağan Altunbaş (Architect)
In the age of digital mobility, space is no longer bound to singular functions; portability, multi-connectivity, and spatial ambiguity have redefined the everyday landscape. Today, a library, a café, or a kitchen is no longer confined to its original role — each can become a workspace, a social interface, or a site of production.
While this transformation has already taken root in public and semi-public realms, the real question lies in how such multifunctionality can be integrated into the domestic scale — particularly within spatial constraints.
How can the interior spaces of the home respond to these shifting practices of production?
How might personal privacy be redefined within shared environments?
How can the focus and intentionality once found outside the home be reconstructed within it? By isolating oneself in a closed room? Or by establishing new spatial conditions that allow life and labor to coexist — without erasing the rhythms of domesticity?
In this context, the kitchen is reconsidered not simply as a place for cooking or consumption, but as a threshold space — a site where work, care, production, and ecological consciousness converge.
________________________________________
New Possibilities – New Necessities
The aim was to frame the kitchen not only as a space for food preparation and consumption but as a generative platform. This notion of “production” goes beyond cooking and includes crafts, technological activities, online communication, and urban agriculture. Today’s kitchen design integrates with smartphones, tablets, smart home appliances, motion sensors, and robotic systems. Concepts like zero-waste living, recycled materials, renewable energy, vertical farming, hydroponic and aquaponic systems are now critical urban necessities.
________________________________________
The Heart of Domestic Life
A multi-purpose kitchen is proposed at the intersection of domestic circulation and storage zones — at the very heart of the home. It accommodates activities ranging from reading and remote work to cooking, vertical gardening, listening to music, and even hands-on making.
Rather than isolating oneself from others, this spatial strategy fosters coexistence. Everyday actions can unfold “side by side” and “together,” offering a more collective form of domestic productivity.
________________________________________
Boundary
The boundary between the kitchen and the rest of the living space is softened through a metal framework that allows for visual and auditory continuity. Instead of a closed room or a single-opened façade, the kitchen is redefined as a space with transparent borders that integrate with surrounding areas.
In daily life, this permeability becomes a spatial interface — for example, between a parent and a child. Instead of retreating to a closed kitchen, the parent remains visible and present, allowing the child to move freely while maintaining proximity and comfort.
________________________________________
Planting – Oxygen
We view the kitchen not just as a site of food preparation but as a production atelier. One of the project's core motivations is to introduce greenery into the space — enhancing psychological well-being and boosting motivation. Growing and caring for plants indoors reconnects the user with the restorative effects of nature.
The design aims to translate the conceptual idea of the kitchen as “the heart of the home” into a physiological and atmospheric reality by improving air quality and contributing to spatial comfort through plants.
________________________________________
Modulation – Personalization – Belonging
The kitchen is embedded within a structural frame composed of 15x15 mm metal profiles. Through an adaptable modular system, it can respond to various spatial contexts and user needs. Cabinets, shelves, vertical gardens, domestic furniture (buffets and display systems), and storage units can all be integrated.
This open shelving system enhances personalization and strengthens the sense of belonging. The modules may also serve as a library, wardrobe, or even exhibition surface — depending on context.
________________________________________
Technology
Technology in this proposal is not an imposition but a layer integrated into the existing domestic logic. A touch-screen embedded in the upper cabinetry provides access to video calls, recipe tutorials, news, music, and other daily functions. Smart devices allow remote control of plant irrigation, lighting, and climate settings.
A hydraulic table doubles as a workspace or dining surface, while integrated features like ring light, power/data outlets, and device mounts support online meetings. The system assumes that all domestic appliances can connect and interact within a shared digital ecosystem.
________________________________________
Vertical Farming – Urban Agriculture – Foodscaping
In addition to their aesthetic and psychological benefits, edible plants bring functionality. “Foodscaping” — the beautification of personal gardens for agricultural use — has become a key strategy for micro-scale sustainability.
Producing herbs, vegetables, and fruits within the kitchen enhances food security and minimizes the carbon footprint associated with mass agriculture and transportation. Vertical farming, combined with hydroponic and aquaponic techniques, allows for year-round cultivation inside the home. Using red/blue spectrum LEDs and drip irrigation, up to 100 types of crops can be grown in vertical modules.
A built-in composting system converts organic kitchen waste into nutrient-rich soil, completing a circular micro-ecology.
________________________________________
Recycling – Reuse – Plastiglomerate – The Anthropocene
We live in the Anthropocene — an epoch defined by the irreversible impact of human activity on the biosphere. Designers now carry an ethical and strategic responsibility in material selection. Recent data shows that Greenland lost 586 billion tons of ice in 2019 alone. If this trend continues, 25 million people may be displaced annually by 2100.
This calls for a radical shift toward recycled and repurposed materials. Plastiglomerate — a hybrid material formed by the fusion of plastic with organic and inorganic matter — is one such innovation. When compacted, it becomes a hygienic surface with various textures and colors.
This proposal incorporates Plastiglomerate as a countertop material, demonstrating how waste can be reimagined as a constructive and expressive architectural element.
*This project was awarded third prize in the “Kitchen as the Heart of the Home” conceptual competition organized by Gante Academy in 2021.
Design Team:
Evren Öztürk (Lead Architect)
Ceren Öztürk (Architect)
Ozan Kağan Altunbaş (Architect)
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