The famous Frankfurt Kitchen, considered the design icon of the 1920s, is widely recognized as the first ever fitted kitchen.
Designed by Viennese architect Margarethe Schütte-Lihotzky, the Frankfurt Kitchen was the forerunner of today's modular fitted kitchens. As a basic conceptual idea, the innovative room layout and original features epitomized modernity.
Not only conceived as a prototype, the Frankfurt Kitchen was actually installed in about 15,000 Frankfurt houses and apartments as part of the "New Frankfurt" building project in 1926. And perhaps it is precisely because of that once large number of extant kitchens that so few of them still exist today. Unfortunately, the last of these truly significant achievements of modern design are being handled in contradictory ways: While specialists and enthusiasts collect the kitchens—whole or in part—to either restore to original condition or buy and sell for considerable prices, the past decades have seen an untold number of the supposedly obsolete Frankfurt Kitchens simply thrown away, unrecognized or unappreciated. As an everyday home furnishing, the Frankfurt Kitchen is threatening to disappear.
The Library of Frankfurt Kitchens is a project, years in the making, by Frankfurt artist, Laura J Gerlach. What was originally conceived as a photographic series documenting the famous kitchens has gradually developed into an archive, a digital library that not only allows the viewer to "leaf through" the extant examples—both public and private—but also secures for posterity these valuable objects threatened by demolition and destruction.
For this project, extensive research will be carried out to find
kitchens that are still intact, primarily in private spaces, but
also in museums and offices, or those built as part of the "New
Frankfurt" project, carried out under head of the housing
department, Ernst May, during the 1920's in Frankfurt.
All of the Frankfurt Kitchens thus documented for this project will
be preserved and can be viewed and—a special feature of this
project—virtually explored and researched, each individual kitchen
opening itself to the viewer in a lifelike fashion. In this way, its
fundamental significance for all later "modern" kitchens is made
clear:
The subtle interchangeability of the kitchens acts as both the
medium and strategy of the photographic presentation, while the
serial form aids in the reading and comprehension of the Library of
Frankfurt Kitchens. The modularity of this reform approach to the
"kitchen as a workplace" becomes quite conspicuous: in the wide
variety of forms and colors, depending upon the size of the room and
floor plan, in relation to the respective personal use and wear and
tear, and—when not in the original condition—in their subsequent
alterations. The pictorial aesthetic is thus defined by the
atmospheric moment—in the light, coloring, traces of use, and
individual decoration.
See also: Margarete "Grete" Schütte-Lihotzky (January 23, 1897 in Margareten bei Wien, Austria-Hungary – January 18, 2000)[1] was the first female Austrian architect and a communist activist in the German resistance to Nazism. She is mostly remembered today for designing what is known as the Frankfurt kitchen. [From: Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 13:47, Februar 25, 2020, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Margarete_Sch%C3%BCtte-Lihotzky&oldid=942003257 ]
Copyright of all content: © Laura J Gerlach, all rights reserved
Conceptual advice: Daniel Henschel | www.feinkorn.de
Web programming: Manuel Rossner | www.manuelrossner.com; Dennis
Jonda | www.dennisjonda.de
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Open 24 hours daily from April 4 to June 13, 2025
Location: Brückenstraßen-Spielplatz (Brückenstraße/Gutzkowstraße
corner) in Frankfurt-Sachsenhausen.
2018, Wien, die angewandte, im Rahmen des Symposiums „Architektur.
Politik. Geschlecht.“
https://kunstsammlungundarchiv.at/universitaetsarchiv/projekte/symposium-architektur-politik-geschlecht/
2019, Frankfurt am Main, Museum Angewandte Kunst, „Moderne am Main“
https://www.museumangewandtekunst.de/de/besuch/ausstellungen/2019/moderne-am-main/
2019, Frankfurt am Main, Historisches Museum Frankfurt, „Wie wohnen
die Leute?“
https://www.historisches-museum-frankfurt.de/de/stadtlabor/wie-wohnen-die-leute
2020, Zürich, Kunsthaus Zürich, „Schall und Rauch. Die wilden 20er“
https://www.kunsthaus.ch/besuch-planen/ausstellungen/schall-und-rauch-20er/
2021, Bilbao, Gugeenheim Bilbao, „Los locos anos veinte“
https://www.guggenheim-bilbao.eus/exposiciones/los-locos-anos-veinte
2022/2023 Frankfurt, Ernst-May-Gesellschaft im Schaulager
https://ernst-may-gesellschaft.de
25.3.–22.10.2023, Gießen, Oberhessisches Museum, „Made in Hessen.
Globale Industriekultur“
https://www.giessen.de/Erleben/Kultur/Museen-Ausstellungen/Oberhessisches-Museum/Museum/
3.11.2023–12.5.2024, Rüsselsheim, Stadt- und Industriemuseum, „Made
in Hessen. Globale Industriekultur“
https://www.museum-ruesselsheim.de/
25.5.2024–25.8.2024, Borken, Hessisches Braunkohle Bergbaumuseum,
„Made in Hessen. Globale Industriekultur“
https://www.braunkohle-bergbaumuseum.de/
15.9.2024–16.2.2025, Offenbach, Haus der Stadtgeschichte, „Made in
Hessen. Globale Industriekultur“
https://www.offenbach.de/microsite/haus_der_stadtgeschichte/index.php
Laura J Gerlach lives as an independent artist and photographer in
Frankfurt am Main. Her photographic subjects are almost exclusively
documentary and serial, dealing with space and atmosphere. The
interior serves as a narrative medium and circumstantial memory. The
series THE LIBRARY OF FRANKFURT KITCHENS is a long-term project
Gerlach has been working on since 2010. The disappearing style icon
is to be permanently preserved for posterity and made accessible in
the medium of digital photography regardless of location - in
(museum) presentations, for research and publications.
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_Jay
Museal inquiries/inquiriries for exhibitions and purchases please email to studio@laurajphotography.de
THE FRANKFURTER KUNSTSÄULE
presents
A Frankfurt Kitchen
from the art project THE LIBRARY OF FRANKFURT KITCHENS
"The KunstSäule presents a photographic work by Laura J Gerlach, who has dedicated her work in recent years to exploring and documenting the Frankfurt Kitchen. The kitchen shown is still in use today and is very close to its original state from 100 years ago. Using 360° technology, she has captured the kitchen so vividly that one instinctively wants to reach out and prepare a radish salad. Gerlach has already photographed more than 60 Frankfurt Kitchens in this way, and she continues to work on this historical and aesthetic archive of an era that significantly influences us to this day and which we rightly celebrate! The KunstSäule provides an ideal way to present the 360° photography, as the panoramic image becomes fully accessible to viewers."
Open 24 hours daily from April 4 to June 13, 2025
Location: Brückenstraßen-Spielplatz (Brückenstraße/Gutzkowstraße
corner) in Frankfurt-Sachsenhausen
More information:
www.frankfurter-kunstsaeule.de