Product designer Philippe Starck has claimed industry debates over smart technology and ‘the kitchen of the future’ are pointless when online giant Amazon will have the final say.
“I don’t want to say no to smart technology, but it’s not for me,” Starck told kbbreview. “It’s a very difficult question, because it’s not us who’ll decide what kitchen we’ll have in the future, it’s Amazon. Amazon will provide the food for the whole world and they know our needs. I don’t even know if it’s interesting to be connected or to have the information that there are no more eggs in the refrigerator. But Amazon will decide that.
“Theoretically, we don’t need smart, Amazon needs it first – to control us and to sell more product. That’s why the next dictate will come from Silicon Valley and the next American president will come from Silicon Valley. It’s a big, big thing. That’s why we shouldn’t use our time to decide if we want it or we need it. Amazon will decide for us.”
Starck went on to insist that kitchen and bathroom design should be adapted to the changing habits of consumers. “The next challenge is one we’ve not yet found a solution for,” he said. “People normally eat at home, but I’ve had an apartment in New York for 10 years, I have a beautiful kitchen, and I’ve only used it once. Now, everybody goes to a restaurant. The new kitchen is outside.
“It’s like the bathtub – everybody wants a bathtub, but nobody takes a bath, it’s finished!
“The kitchen has the same problem – which means that the next kitchen has to be completely reinvented for people who don’t need an oven; people who don’t want a kitchen. A kitchen is just to eat in – to cook a completely different meal without a big preparation. On one side, you have people who will eat by the sink, which is terrible, and on the other are the vegans who eat raw vegetables. That’s why it’s my subject to find a solution. What is the kitchen of the future? It’s definitely not the kitchen of our grandmother.”
- For the full exclusive interview with Philippe Starck see the November issue of kbbreview