05
COVER STORY
T
hey’re identical twins – the spitting
image of one another. When they
were at school they had great fun
tricking their schoolmates, teachers and
later on their admirers. Like most twins,
they’re similar in many ways. For exam-
ple, they’re both ambitious, career-
minded young women. Giovanna is a
successful designer in a well-known fash-
ion company. Ricarda has just been pro-
moted to senior management of a small
but renowned private bank. They both
inherited a passion for cooking from
their Italian mother. But their opinions
differ on the topic of kitchens.
It’s Saturday evening. Ricarda has in-
vitedGiovanna for dinner in her newflat.
While Ricarda is busy cooking, Gio-
vanna takes a closer look roundRicarda’s
beautiful home. Her gaze wanders
through to the kitchen, where Ricarda is
chopping the vegetables. Her comments
are revealing: ‘Your kitchen’s really beau-
tiful!’ she says. ‘For me, a kitchen’s like a
beautiful dress,’ Giovanna continues.
‘I have to feel comfortable in it. And it
has to gowithmy personality.That’s why
it has to look right. You won’t like your
kitchen for long if it doesn’t look good.
Even more so if it’s part of the living-
room like in your flat.’ ‘You’re absolutely
right,’ agrees Ricarda. ‘But we shouldn’t
forget the practical side of a kitchen.’
Some years ago, Ricarda did a voluntary
traineeship in a top restaurant and was
amazed by the perfect organisation and
smooth workflows of a professional
kitchen. The experiences she gained
greatly shaped the design of her new
kitchen.
‘Yes, of course,’ answers Giovanna. ‘But
you have to admit that kitchens always
have pretty much the same layout. It’s
not until you combine interesting mater-
ials andfinishes that youget a fascinating
kitchen.’ ‘No, you’re wrong,’ counters
Ricarda. ‘A beautiful kitchen is worth
less if theworkflows aren’t right, if there’s
too little storage space and the cabinets
are difficult to open and close.’ While
saying this she nudges the front of the
waste pull-out with her knee. It opens
automatically and Ricarda disposes of
the onion peel. She pushes it hard with
her foot and instead of banging to, it
closes softly and effortlessly. Giovanna is
lost for words. She hadn’t noticed this
feature in her sister’s kitchen.
Ricarda puts the knife down with which
she has just finely sliced the zucchini. ‘So
you’ll be surprised when I tell you that
what I did first was to think about a prac-
tical design. I decided on the materials
and colours afterwards.’ Giovanna is
amazed and instantly interested. She
thinks her sister’s kitchen is something
else. But she hadn’t looked at it from the
practical side of things. Sure … there’s
something beautiful about watching
Ricarda cooking. Her movements are
smooth. Everything she does is easy, and
Ricarda is preparing everything far faster
than she would do. Up till now Gio-
vanna thought that this was mainly
because of Ricarda’s energetic style of
cooking. Ricarda moves into the centre
of her kitchen. ‘Look here. I just need to
take a few steps to prepare the food, cook
and even to do the washing up. Every-
thing is where it shouldbe.’Thewide and
heavily laden pull-outs can be opened
Twin sisters Giovanna and Ricarda may look alike
but they sometimes differ in their opinions. For
example, on the issue of kitchens. Must kitchens
be primarily beautiful or practical? Ricarda tells
Giovanna that they can actually be both.
For Giovanna, it’s most important
what a kitchen looks like. You
can only feel comfortable in a
beautiful kitchen.
Ricarda is not against beautiful
design but for her, a kitchen
must primarily be practical.
and closed with ease. They open electri-
cally at a single touch, have a feather-light
glide and close softly and effortlessly.
Everything’s well thought out.The kitch-
en has been designed according to typi-
cal workflows. Everything that’s needed
for specific tasks is immediately to hand.
Pans near the cooker, knives near the
worktop, sponges near the sink. Gio-
vanna watches Ricarda’s demonstration
GIOVAN
NA
LIKES STYLIS
H
FU
R
NIT
UR
E
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