Kitchen Counters: Getting Away From the Stone Age

[This is a revised edition of a previous post about kitchen counter materials]

The first kitchen counters were made of the same stone that made up the hearth of nomadic fires. Hunters and gatherers cut and cooked foods within feet of each other: it is amazing how little we have changed.

Tens of thousands of years later, kitchen counters can now come in a variety of materials: Granite, engineered stone, solid surface, ceramic tile, laminates, wood (or butcher block), stainless steel, soapstone, marble, or concrete (KitchenCountertops.net, 2009), but the most popular choice is still some type of stone. Kitchen and Bath Design News wrote an article about the trend for the kitchen being a more versatile place, and when covering materials, they wrote simply that Quartz is the future: why are we still in the Stone Age?

NEED

After common aesthetic choices, most modern counter top materials are chosen for their ability to sustain a clean working environment in the kitchen. Innovation in a kitchen counter material would have to meet these needs, but could confront the lack of interaction between a user and the material once it has been laid down.

Future countertops could change color in places where they have been contaminated with harmful chemicals or bacteria; they could then have an option of being pushed down into a second sink (beside the permanent one) and then pulled/popped back up again for counter space with a simple unassuming drain (almost like the exact opposite of those half-sphere rubber suction cup toys from the 1990’s). These countertops could also contain internet enabled digital components that display visual information across the countertop (think huge Kindle) and allow someone to read an online recipe or the news while washing spaghetti. Back splashes could contain touch screen technology to operate the digital (and possibly physical) components of the countertop. Although, touch screen technology on the countertop itself would need to function through use of a stylus of some type, as a counter’s main function conflicts with a touch screen’s ability to determine the user’s needs (stuff is always going to be touching the screen).

Such a material would better suit contemporary uses of the kitchen as a meal preparation and social gathering place, and as a home office because it could change and adapt to a variety of uses: a reliably clean prep sink and/or counter space, tax-prep desk, recipe card, and source of entertainment.

MATERIAL PERCEPTION

Because this material would need to be flexible enough to “pop” into certain shapes, it would have a lower modulus than existing counter tops, but would need to continue to seem cool and smooth to maintain the ‘trust” that has been attributed to previous countertop materials. Perhaps, a smooth, thick, translucent, non-porous coating could distance the digital display from the surface, and lessen any anxiety about dropping something heavy on the counter and breaking the display material. Also because of trust issues, the material would need to be shiny (associated with non-porous objects) and food-safe (the more natural, the better).

To the touch, the material could be flat and smooth, or it could be molded into a permanently subtle texture pattern, like tiles, before installation. It would need to be stain and scratch resistant and easy to clean. In terms of sustainability, the material would need to be easily updated, recycled, or disassembled for re-use- this is a must to compete in today’s market. The digital material, when not activated, could come in a variety of colors or rich visual textures- one of which can be chosen by the consumer before installation.

Although the majority of current synthetic materials are priced at the bottom of the kitchen market, this material would be impossible to place at that level. In order to counteract consumer price shock, countertops made from this material would need to embody modern light-hearted and humorous visual characteristics over “techie” ones. They would need to immediately appeal to a consumer on a humanistic level, and would need to visually convey their versatility: they need to have rounded shapes and fantastic affordance. The material would enter the market in the highest product position through modern and humanistic design.

The increased versatility of the material would draw the market away from some high-end consumers that are currently seeking out copper, steel, and stone countertops. Early adopters, young professionals, and (hopefully) trendsetters, would also pick-up the product.

The kitchen counter is as old as civilization. Although its size, shape, and use have changed over the years, people continue to use stone: a cold and hard material. The opportunity for material improvement in kitchen countertops is wide-open, all we need is a material that can seem hard yet “pop-able,” can detect harmful chemicals and bacteria, and can display digital information (possibly to the touch). …Let me get right on that.