Since arriving in Hong Kong, we have been trying to promote the local design industry. To do that, on the 29th October we invited the top talents across design industry to join a cocktail party at Rimadesio Flagship Store at Happy Valley, our brand new flagship store in hong Kong, to preview the artworks of entrants of the “Dress Up Your Kitchen” competition organized in conjunction with Perspective magazine. Now we are delighted to announce we were the Title Sponsor of The 2010 AIA Hong Kong Honors & Awards Ceremony and Celebration Dinner, as the support of Hong Kong design industry is for us very important. The AIA Hong Kong Honors & Awards Ceremony was held on the 20th October 2010 at the Rotunda, Exchange Square; in this year’s edition it was The American Institute of Architects Hong Kong’s annual Design Award Program that recognizes excellence in architectural design of projects. The aim of the program was to increase awareness of outstanding architecture and to honor the AIA member architects, clients, and consultants who work together to improve the built environment we all share. There were mainly two categories of Awards: Design Awards and Scholastic Awards. The Awards winners included Nelson Chen Architects Ltd., Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, Arquitectonica, Ronald Lu & Partners, CL3 Architects Limited, Yuchang Chang AIA, AEDAS Ltd, Richards Basmajian, HOK International Asia Pacific Ltd, Integrated Design Associates Ltd. We participated to both events by displaying a model of Artematica, our 100% recyclable kitchen programs, which perfectly matched with the design projects of members of AIA and guests, especially because we could share the same commitment and devotion to protect the environment.

We quote here the Treehugger’s post: “If one was going to build the perfect kitchen you might want it to be made of a material that is easily cleaned, like glass. You would expect it to ship flat-pack to reduce transport costs. You might make it so that there are no glues, just mechanical connections so that it could be easily taken apart and reassembled in a different form. Need metal? Use recycled aluminum. Toss in the slickest of Italian design and you have the Valcucine Invitrum. Don’t know what it costs and am afraid to ask. But it is slick and green. More at Valcucine and in TreeHugger:Italian Kitchen Design Keeps Getting Greener with New Valcucine and Jargon Watch: “Recyclable.” Credit: Valcucine By Lloyd Alter, Toronto on April 7, 2009 4:04 AM Buzz up!”

Valcucine presents it first 100% recyclable kitchen with ‘gReenaissance‘, an exposition project inspired to the material’s natural life-cycle, an extensive and coherent research aimed to create eco-friendly kitchens. valcucine.it/en davidegroppi.com also at the Show Room Spotti | Habitat Naturale Valcucine Viale Piave 27, Milano h. 10 – 20 open

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Valcucine has created an innovative structure with glass base units which, eliminating the second side panel, also in glass, gives the arrangement such a clean and lightweight appearance that it looks almost ethereal. The decreased volumes imply less waste of resources and energy while the exclusive use of glass guarantees full recyclability of the unit, eliminating toxic emissions, as well as absolute resistance to water, steam and heat.

We report here the interview with the architect Gabriele Centazzo for: ‘Le Fabbriche del design’ (from Casa&Design of Repubblica) The distinguishing elements of the Artematica kitchen are inspired by the special attention paid to environmental topics; is this something new or is it a trend you have always followed? «I have been basing my work on dematerialisation for more than twenty years; we live on an Earth in which 15% of the inhabitants consume 85% of the resources, the other 85% would like to consume just as much but there just isn’t enough for everyone. It is thus necessary to reduce the quantity of energy consumed to make products and services, and this is exactly what dematerialisation allows. When I started working in this direction, designing the first 5 mm thick aluminium door twenty years ago, it wasn’t possible to talk about eco-compatibility or low impact on the environment because these topics were not as important as they are today». What elements in the Artematica kitchen transform the dematerialisation concept into something tangible? «The door, the top and the carcass are all produced respecting the three main principles of recyclability, dematerialisation and durability; the latter is very important because an eco-compatible and recyclable element that is not durable is practically useless because more energy will soon be needed to produce another one. The kitchen we will be presenting at Eurocucina 2008 is, in fact, 100% recyclable». Which features contained in Artematica make us talk about high technology? «The door is the star, even in the hi-tech field. Our intention was that of changing the actual door concept by dividing the two elements that are traditionally joined together, i.e. the technical structure with its aluminium frame and the finishing element consisting in a very slim aluminium panel. Of course, in doing this, we have not neglected beauty. In fact, we have produced the first door with an invisible aluminium frame in order to achieve a kitchen in glass with pure volumes». One last question concerning the choice of the name; what inspired you? «The name comes from a combination of the words “art” and “mathematics”: art, because when producing this kitchen, we used an inlay technique on glass to which some artists contributed. This process was inspired by handicraft tradition that makes it possible to customise each single kitchen by means of decors suggested by young artists, by the designer or by [...]