October 9, 2007 Since the world’s marketers have become aware that women account for more purchasing power than they’ve previously been given credit for, there’s been a distinct lack of “women’s domain” appliances designed for men. Recognizing that men are showing an increasing interest in developing the kitchen as part of their habitat, Porsche Design Group and Poggenpohl Mobelwerke have taken the covers off their first co-designed kitchen, the P’7340.
Back in October 2005, Porsche Design and Poggenpohl signed a co-operation agreement for the purpose. Says Roland Heiler, Managing Director of the Porsche Design Studio in Zell am See: “Our studio already had long-standing experience in designing kitchen and home appliances as well as furniture. In Poggenpohl we have found a partner capable of implementing our idea of what a modern kitchen should look like.”
With their new kitchen, both companies intend to live up to the trend that shows an increasing number of men displaying an interest in 'kitchen and cuisine’. “In recent years, kitchens have turned into event and representation areas frequently equipped with audio systems”, explains Elmar Duffner, Managing Director of Poggenpohl. “Our co-operation with Porsche Design enabled us to design a kitchen whose sleek and functional design language specifically addresses male customers.”
The new kitchen will be on display as a show kitchen and sold in Poggenpohl studios around the world as of spring 2008. It will be available in the USA as of summer 2008.
Aluminum profiles of different sizes, which permit individual styling, constitute the basic framework of the new kitchen. Within the aluminum frames, customers can position cabinet elements any way they like. The result is a modular, spacious and extremely versatile system of frames and carcasses that deliberately integrates clear spaces into the overall design concept.
The use of aluminum, a material typically used by Porsche Design, gives the kitchen an innovative and technical look as the material lends a high degree of originality to the surfaces of both the furniture carcasses and the frames. The frames come with integrated lights that directly and diffusely illuminate the worktop and the surroundings respectively. Another material used is glass, which – painted unobtrusively on the rearside and available in a satin or glossy finish – embellishes the front surfaces or fills the frames.
The two wood varieties available for the front surface design provide an eye-catching contrast with these cool materials. Customers can choose between "Driftwood", a heavily brushed type of pine that feels quite natural to the touch, and "Dark Oak", a finely brushed type of dark oak. The unsealed, textured wood surfaces create a very natural and cosy atmosphere, enhancing the precision of the technical materials – glass and metal – even further. Thin worktops crafted from satin-finished glass or black granite are designed to convey an impression of elegance and lightness, which is rounded off by their alignment with the carcass.
A special highlight of the Poggenpohl Porsche Design kitchen is the fact that all cabinets can be opened without handles: a gentle touch of the finger opens pull-out elements and drawers thanks to built-in high-precision systems, while a light push suffices to make them all withdraw and, over the final centimetres, go back automatically into their original position. A touch mechanism is also applied to doors and flaps: touching the front face will activate a spacer pin that mechanically moves a door a few centimetres forward. The absence of handles further emphasizes the uncompromising, clean-lines of the furniture, but as an alternative to the this solution, functional brushed aluminium bar-handles are also available.
The kitchen also boasts a high-tech audio-video system. The module has a purist appeal thanks to the aluminum-titanium colored, anodized aluminum frame with its ultra-glossy surfaces in back-painted glass. The electronics of the built-in LCD module are installed behind glass to protect these components against dirt and splashing water. The module itself does not require a ventilation system and features an innovative, extremely small sound system whose plug-and-play solution offers options for both analogue and digital connections.
Kitchen appliances maker Miele & Cie. KG will be the exclusive supplier of all appliances – from ovens to steam cookers to dishwashers. In design and styling, all appliances are made to match that of the materials used in the kitchen. The electric appliances are operated via sensor keys instead of buttons and feature dialogue displays.
Porsche Design has been among the leading luxury brands in the segment of upmarket men’s accessories since the brand was established by Professor Ferdinand Alexander Porsche in 1972. Porsche Design products are exclusively sold internationally in company-owned retail and franchise stores, upmarket department stores and by authorized dealers.
Being the oldest furniture brand in Germany, Poggenpohl owes its continuing sales success to its exports to over 60 countries(with an export share of 70 per cent).
