New Idea Monday: Kitchens in the Round

Mondays are tough. The weekend is over, the work week (for most of us) has just begun. Sometimes a cup of coffee just isn't enough to get motivated.

I'm here to help.

Each Monday I will try to find something new in the world of design. It might be some new technology in appliances, or simply a new line of hardware I've been introduced to.  This is New Idea Monday, or NIM for short.  For today's instalment, it's one of the coolest kitchen designs I've seen in a long time.

This is the winner of the 2005 "Kitchen is the Heart of the Home" competition put on by Designboom and the imm Cologne interior design show. Created by Chinese designers Cheng He, Liu Guang Kui and Zhou Dong of China, this "apartment" kitchen features a brilliant combination of clever design and brilliant engineering. Not only does the design make sense as-is, the countertop (along with the cooktop and sink) rotates, bringing to work centres to the cook!

This kitchen reminds me a lot of Snaidero's Acropolis concept, only turned inside out ... which is probably what I like best about it. Both are great examples of letting function steer the design without sacrifing form. This design takes both the form and function of Acropolis one step further.