ARCHITECTURE AND ERGONOMICS OF HOUSEHOLD KITCHENS AGAINST THE CULINARY CUSTOMS
Acquiring knowledge concerning troublesome aspects of household chores, in particular, complex kitchen tasks as well as dining etiquette is of vital importance in creating optimal living conditions. Exploring those issues can be helpful in evaluation of the role of the kitchen in the house layout, as well as in the daily lives of the inhabitants. As was demonstrated in the monograph, despite the functional programme of houses and kitchens, house duties are still a significant part of daily life. Moreover, they are necessary in order to fulfill basic existential needs (e.g. feeding hunger and providing hygiene), as well as higher needs (e.g. social integration by activation of members of household).
The type of kitchen equipment depends on individual ways of preparing meals, in particular in relation to the food industry and food service offer. Kitchen equipment is a derivative of current technological progress. Concentration of work in kitchen caused that it has always been equipped with numerous tools (e.g. cutlery and dishes). Mechanical and engine-driven devices enabled a re-duction of physical effort devoted to, i.a. preparation of meals. What is more, permanent access to fully or partly processed food products frees from the necessity of making stock and initial pro-cessing of food. The abovementioned mechanisation and industrial processing however did not re-sult in considerable shortening of time spent on performing kitchen chores. Together with an in-crease in the standard of living (e.g. hygiene and diversification of menu), the number of possessions etc., a lot of activities accompanying the process of cooking have been prolonged. Moreover, new chores and activities have arisen. Running of a modern household requires time-consuming plan-ning. Making savings in household budgets enforces us to take on additional activities connected with, e.g. shopping for cheaper goods in further away parts of the city.
The „introductory” chapter one focuses on the scope of research area. Moreover, it elaborates on the role of work in human life, as well as the distinction between the gainful and household ac-tivities. It also focuses on the distinction of the specificity and complexity of kitchen, and indication of the role of architecture and ergonomics in shaping of the material environment of people. This section presents the aims of publication, current state of research, preliminary assumptions and the structure of paper. Among the most important aims one can distinguish:
• recognition of the role of organization and rationalization of work in forming households, as well as comfort of household;
• indication of the role of kitchen chores and dietary habits in people’s lives;
• presentation of changes in kitchen layouts and equipment against the changes in housing development;
• discussion of the role of household chores in functional and spatial shaping of a household and its zones;
• popularization and spreading of awareness concerning ergonomics in everyday life in order to improve the sense of satisfaction, eliminate unnecessary effort and avoid stressful situations, or potential accidents.
The monograph is composed of the following six chapters.
The second chapter elaborates on the role of fire in households and lives of people. It also con-centrates on researching and formulating rules of running a household and importance of availability of food resources and rules concerning the consumption of meals in formulating work conditions, as well as the kitchen space itself. Throughout centuries, the central place outlining the living space, and especially kitchen, was the hearth. Together with gasification and electrification the form of the heating medium has changed. Traditional flame was replaced by invisible thermal radiation trans-ferred directly into the dishes.
Technological development was accompanied by gradual rationalization and organization of work. Even in ancient times the issues concerning functioning of households were intuitively and scientifically considered. The abovementioned issues also received attention from researchers of var-ious aspects of human life. Their observations and results were presented in numerous tracts and textbooks. A number of particularly old publications nowadays have only a cognitive value, however, all of them confirm the importance of household chores in everyday life, as well as in shaping household forms and organizing households.
The work conditions in kitchen are not only a derivative of the development of civilization, but also development of culture, culinary tastes, tradition and dietary possibilities. Serving varied meals and the culture of their consumption influence the character of chores connected with food prepara-tion and cleaning up, and, as a result, the functional and spatial layouts of kitchens and whole households.
The third chapter presents the historical changes in the forms of residence, characteristic lay-outs of former houses, as well as the place and role of the kitchen. The assumed range included pri-marily the space of single houses and flats and kitchen areas with the most important equipment. Presented changes in the household environment aimed at indication of the placement and role of kitchen space in the house structure. The author also encompassed the context of constantly chang-ing construction conditions, social relations (mainly in the scope of functioning of single house-holds), and even everyday life.
The fourth chapter focuses on modern types of housing and kitchen. In 1920s the term „labora-tory kitchen” was introduced along with popularization of the „Frankfurt” model. It was believed back then that systematizing and shortening of the kitchen work zone closed in a small room was the key to limit everyday laborious effort and „free” the householders from house chores. However, latter savings resulted in discreditation of the „laboratory” standard, as often the kitchens were too small and dark and were designed for only one person to work in.
Houses „without servants” with monofunctional rooms (and kitchens) were popularised during the interwar period, thanks to various social trends and „modernism” in architecture. This type of housing became popular after the World War II as a result of, among others, the development of industrial technology in housing and „class-less societies”. This period is characterised by significant cultural and civilisational progress, reflected also in new forms of housing. It was possible to choose the type and size of house and mono- or multi-functional character of the kitchen.
Modern house kitchens are places of merging of contrary behaviours of their users. On the one hand householders use there numerous improvements, technological novelties and kitchens are places where „modern” lifestyle is popularized, on the other hand, kitchens are also places where old recipes are reused and former well-known cooking and baking techniques applied. Kitchens are also places of family bonding and maintaining traditions. Therefore kitchens are spaces where old tradi-tion and new trends meet. Moreover, using advanced gastronomic techniques strengthens their spe-cialist character, as modern kitchens are often referred to as „house laboratories”.
The fifth chapter concentrates on historical changes of the most important functional zones in kitchens. Among them the author distinguished: thermal treatment, food storage, water supply and doing the washing-up and waste and sewage disposal. Spatial distinguishing of specialist zones used for performing certain activities results from the complexity of the whole course of action and pro-cess of meal preparation. Most attention was given to the evolution of the heating medium, which throughout the centuries determined kitchen space and the scope of activities related to broadly un-derstood heat treatment of food.
The next section elaborates on the conditions of maintaining and extending of use-by date of various food products, as well as the ways of their preservation and evolution of space and devices used for their storage. The monograph also discusses the role of water in running of a household and meals preparation. In industrialised countries its abundance was ensured thanks to a well-developed waterworks infrastructure. However, clean water used to be a commodity in short supply and was available only for the minority of population. Currently water is available even in several places in houses (usually in kitchens and bathrooms).
Nowadays, together with meal preparation and other household chores there is a necessity of waste and sewage disposal. Former household managing did not generate big amounts of waste. Current, broadly understood consumption is therefore related to a growing quantity of various, usu-ally non-biodegradable, waste. Its disposal is usually troublesome for single households, especially in small flats and in municipal services. Therefore many countries decided to undertake complex ac-tions aiming at limitation of waste in already congested landfills. Various initiatives also focus on households themselves. A proper recycling taking place already in the household kitchen is supposed to further separate biodegradable organic waste and recycled materials, as well as reduction of the amount of waste.
Other waste created in the course of performing tasks requiring the use of water is sewage. Its disposal used to be particularly inconvenient and non-effective. An evident improvement of sanitary conditions took place only thanks to installation of sewage systems and draining sewage outside houses into combined sewerage networks or holding tanks.
The abovementioned functional zones were analysed according to the load, burdensomeness and efficiency of work, as well as threats to both health and safety, hygiene, and even the influence on the environment. The latter issue has a particularly important meaning in current times. Modern societies show a better recognition and understanding of the influence of even the smallest house-holds on the condition of the environment. It is also postulated that the „consumption” of certain raw materials and products, in particular water and energy should be reduced.
Chapter six presents the evolution of equipment and furniture forms. The appropriate furnish-ing decides on the level of work comfort in kitchens. Formerly the kitchen chores were performed by the members of lower-class. That is why the rooms where the work was done were less representa-tive, particularly in wealthier houses. Therefore kitchen equipment (together with furnishings) was quite poor. Only thanks to the development of industrial production a bigger supply of furniture and household goods was provided. The specificity of production required a certain degree of unification of products, and, in the case of maintaining the kitchen layout, also the size coordination. The in-troduction of modular typification of furniture and devices in the mid-20th century completely changed the look of kitchens, and the built-in equipment became popular. Despite an advanced standardisation, it is possible to create all possible spatial, functional and aesthetical layouts in household kitchens. Modern furniture systems come in a rich offer of materials and colours, while household goods are able to satisfy even the most refined culinary tastes and prepare all imaginable dishes.
Chapter seven elaborates on the influence of technical progress on time and labour input in house kitchens. The changes in the housing development, functional layouts of flats, furnishings, tools and use of mechanical devices and machines may positively influence the organisation and efficiency of housework, shortening its time, lowering burdensomeness and effort, as well as in-crease the sense of security. However, the aforementioned changes resulted neither in „freeing” householders from the chores, nor in a considerable reduction of their number. The amount of time spent on meal preparation has almost not changed. However, many of former, laborious activities, which required substantial physical strength have been reduced or eliminated. On the other hand, the intensity of performing other activities has increased, and new chores have occurred.
Chapter eight is the summary of the publication. It includes, among others, a synthetic glance at house kitchens, as „a space” and „an object”. „The space” includes numerous utility functions and it is there, that social relations take place (e.g. integration of householders). On the other hand, kitchen understood as „an object” follows the same design and market rules as other technical prod-ucts. Providing a high ergonomic quality requires careful functional and spatial programming, as well as selection of equipment with certain use and aesthetical qualities. The chapter also presents the achievement of presupposed aims and synthetic conclusions, which summarise the considera-tions presented in the previous six chapters. The chapter ends with a presentation of possibilities of practical application of the publication.