What is a kitchen? Traditionally, it’s a room or part of a room used for food preparation and cooking. But in the 2013 modern home it represents much more than that. In this the first Habitat kitchen and bathroom FOCUS feature of the year we garnered information – both locally and internationally – to showcase the latest design directions. The overview concentrates on the format, planning and equipping of these vital interiors.

Architects have been icons within human society for aeons: Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe, Frank Lloyd Wright and more recently Philippe Starck, Sir Norman Foster and Zaha Hadid.

Certainly, architects value their role in society but why does their iconic reputation exist? Is it because they are entrusted with the enclosing of space, and this on a planet with shrinking habitable areas for human occupation. This is the best case scenario for architects, but where does purism end and survival begin? Are some merely legal functionaries, that enable residential, corporate and public developments to be built.

This second Kitchen and Bathroom Habitat FOCUS feature for 2012 showcases a changing sector. Yet one which remains high on the interior design / decoration list of desirables, particularly in terms of its contribution to property re-sale values.

Habitat’s ongoing focus on contemporary architecture, interior design and decoration in South Africa continues to showcase the synergy between architects – who enclose spaces – and the designers / decorators that specify finishes, furnish, decorate and accessorise them. The most common place you’ll find terra firma is beneath your feet; all the more reason to be aware of the vital ground rules that architects and designers appreciate and understand.

A sofa and two chairs. This was, and still is to some extent, the solution to suburban seating for the average home in the Western world. Thankfully there has been meaningful progression in South Africa, in both design and manufacturing. And importantly it continues.

I will always recall my first May – late-Autumn – in Johannesburg, many decades ago. I had arrived from the UK Spring and was renting a circa ‘50s bungalow in Craighall Park. We were chilled to the bone after dark; such were the thin walls and large areas of glass, flimsy curtains and no fireplaces. A puny electric heater did little to rectify the situation. This was an early lesson in climate control in South Africa.