Minimalist kitchen hoods keep things sleek and square over the range.
Modern kitchen designers usually favor minimalist kitchen hoods even above pro-style ranges. The minimalist aesthetic, however, tends to favor flush, integrated appliances and zero-radius (square edge) features – including box-style ventilation hoods. That way, the air extractor does its job but blends into the overall kitchen instead of becoming a decorative or even a design feature on its own.
A very cool concrete and basalt Australian kitchen by Robert Mills [top] has a galley arrangement along one wall. As a result, the hood above the cooktop reads like a continuous vertical slab with the range guard. There is a projection for the hood, of course, but visually little difference. In essence, the blower is encased in a plain box and meant to disappear into the wall. That way, the hood area becomes a counter weight to the bulk of the refrigerator cabinet.
Lately I’m seeing modern residential kitchens designed in the style of public spaces, sometimes with what I will diplomatically call “quirky” lighting. Las Vegas designer Mark Tracy of Chemical Spaces pushed that idea in a hipster house cum art-gallery, built principally for entertaining. The kitchen features classic Scavolini slab-front cabinets in a concrete gray finish with stainless steel frames – art gallery neutral. Vegas being Vegas there is no lack of glitz, as evidenced in the blue LED lighting and tone-on-tone striped Italian tile floors. The island box hood has no detailing and is painted out. It’s there but nothing more — which is exactly the point.
Here’s a contemporary hood with an extra helping of personality. The look is sleek and spare but the shiny surface and placement as a focal point transforms it into a piece of sculpture. When I first looked at this photo I did a double-take. I know the hood is mounted above the cooktop and yet because of its placement it almost appears to float in the center of the room.
An open kitchen in a contemporary Minnesota farmhouse features a sweeping eating bar that also contains the cooktop. Overhead, the steel-frame, frosted glass box encloses the ventilation unit – another sculptural solution. The frosted glass helps the hood hover above the cooking surface more gracefully than a solid box and a bit more decoratively in a kitchen embellished only by its surfaces and shapes.
(Source: robertmills, contemporist, michaelrichman, murphy&co)
Copy and paste link to quick-share this post: http://bit.ly/R8n3Tr
Hello Jane,
I enjoyed your article/analysis on minimalist kithen hood.
I am interested in the rectangle range hood you covered in your third picture. Would you be able to provide the manufacturer of this range hood?
Thanks
Ash
Hi Ashley,
Thanks for stopping by.
In this case I don’t have the exact hood designer Michael Richards used in this kitchen. Sometimes a designer’s office will give out the information; sometimes not. It’s always best to have a photo for reference. Here is another view of the hood, which looks quite a bit different from the direct view and should be helpful.
I sometimes can put my finger right on a product. With this type of hood the sources are less available. Falmec makes a similar hood, for example, and while their catalog shows a 24″ wide hood they may be able to make it larger.
http://www.falmecnorthamerica.com/Products/SEE-ALL
Boffi makes the general shape but it’s not clear whether they will just sell a hood apart from the whole kitchen system.
http://www.boffi.com/EN/Collections/kitchens/xila_st.aspx
Additionally, here is the link to Richman’s website. He is based in Chicago and his phone number is available.
Hope that helps your search.
Best,
Jane