4

The gender roles are different in both of these kitchens. In the 1930s, women were expected to be in the kitchen working by themselves. Greenbelt kitchen is designed for the housewife to cook and to clean. Today, the whole family uses the kitchen. Now, the kitchen allows for everyone in the family to help prepare meals. Also, the modern kitchen leaves room for many people to participate in kitchen chores.

4 Lazy Susans

The technologies are different. We have far more electrical appliances now, kitchens need to be larger and provide efficient storage. Today, store-brought kitchen accessories, like electric can opener and microwaves are made to fit under the cabinet. The modern kitchen includes cabinets that offer enough storage space and easy-to-reach shelf space. Everything, including the can open opener, has become space efficient with many uses of counterspace. Once can minimize counter clutter with an appliance garage. On the other hand, the Greenbelt kitchen contains minimum cabinets because the tenants did not have many appliances or electrical accessories to store way. Everything is compact and neatly arranged. The counters are covered with kitchen accessories, ready to be used at any time.

4

Kitchens have been reconceptualized from workspaces to family spaces. Greenbelt in the 1930s and 40s, the kitchen was a workplace. Builders designed the Greenbelt kitchen solely to accommodate the preparation of meals. Presently, the kitchen is a gathering space for the family, a place where family members can spend quality time together. For example, many people not only eat at a kitchen table but work at it also. This allows mothers and fathers to help their children with their homework, while cooking at the same time. Again, the modern kitchen becomes "the heart of homes."

Kitchens have adapted in size and shape to accommodate these changes. The Greenbelt kitchen was small, so the whole family could not fit in it. It was not an eat-in kitchen. Modern kitchens are often eat-in kitchens or second family rooms. They are shaped and sized to provide efficient workspaces and family spaces. The kitchen appliances are placed in strategic and convenient locations. For example, one of the most common modern kitchen designs, the L-shaped Kitchen, provides excellent flexibility in the placement of major appliances.(1) Since this modern kitchen is large and spacious, the kitchen is designed so one does not have to walk far between workstations and appliances. Evolution of the kitchen includes an Island that can be added to the kitchens to provide space and storage for people who use their kitchens for activities ranging from formal entertaining to day-to-day activities.

There is a class difference between the Greenblet kitchen and many modern kitchens, which are designed for the upper middle class. The Greenbelt kitchen was designed to meet the needs of lower income families. The aim was to house as many people as possible with minimum amount of space possible. The kitchen was built to serve a basic service, not be luxurious and lavish. Ethel Rosenzwieg, a housewife, felt, "There was no hierarch here, no rich people looking down on the peasants. We were all equal." (3) The Greenbelt community was planned to harbor a feeling of community and cooperation.