Rastelli: a new name for Italian cuisine
Apr 23, 2014
Even though the Rastelli brand only emerged in 2014, it immediately set out to actively penetrate the international market. This prompted the company to engage two of the world's best architects: Feruccio Laviani and Karim Rashid. The main challenge was to create a product that was in constant evolution, with an Italian design on the one hand and unique characteristics on the other. Developments do not stop at achieving an aesthetic effect, but continue in the direction of ecology and ergonomics. So the company's mission statement can be summed up in three words: design, quality and ecology.
Karim Rashid: Kook and Karan
"In designing the kitchens, I followed the principle of minimalism, combining 'clean' surfaces with splashes of intense colours. In the Kook kitchen, I have transformed a culinary duel into a purely aesthetic pleasure.
The cabinets are designed to offer maximum visibility and access to the contents. Blinds conceal the glass shelves with led lighting and the extractor hood above the hob. Using the sloping cabinet, larger items can be placed on top and smaller ones on the bottom and turn cooking into a frivolous pastime. The lower modules are accentuated with coloured LED lighting, open with a touch of a button and are also made tiltable to allow easy access to the worktop. Kook also has a sink which can be concealed under the cutting board, giving a continuous surface. The use of corian fronts in an aluminium frame creates a marriage of technology, durability and minimalist aesthetics.
"The kitchen is the heart of the home. With this thought in mind, I have taken what is often considered the prototype of a kitchen space and turned it into an elegant experiment in the Karan kitchen."
The concept is built around a pedestal-shaped island. The unusually shaped island invites family and friends to take their seats around it. Both the mixer and the led lighting are tucked away under the smooth worktop. The simple addition of a multi-purpose cutting board above the sink creates a stable surface on which to set the table. The soft curves have a continuation on the unit by the wall. The wall mirror panel is also framed by led lighting.
The columns under the refrigerator, oven and kitchen cupboard can be opened by means of a recess. The use of frosted or glossy glass for the fronts and ceramics to present the model in an even more exclusive way, enhancing its originality and uniqueness.
Feruccio Laviani: Beluga
"We are talking about a serious, well thought out project that is in constant evolution. I do not intend to leave the project in its present state, frozen in projection and rigid composition: I want it to be a starting point.
The Beluga kitchen is part of the Rastelli brand's compositional panorama as an example of a rigorous elegance capable of transforming and structuring spaces in a musical way. Beluga is a true orchestra of light and shadow, volume and emptiness, metal and natural materials.
The composition is based on two fundamental concepts. The first is the modern concept of light as a fourth dimension of space, allowing a chromatic and material balance in the straightness of the metal pipes that 'rhyme' the sections of space. The solid, thermally treated oak fronts add strength to the composition, while the perforated sheet metal, combined with the backlighting, brings an element of lightness and dissolving into the space. The second concept is to underline Beluga's linearity: the sliding fronts do not clutter the space and give easy access to the interior. The result is an example of true experimental design, involving all five senses, a true open architecture system.
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