The kitchen is one of the most central areas of the home. People are in and out of it all day cooking meals or fixing snacks. There are many different aspects of a kitchen that are overlooked in our day to day use of it. Things such as technological advancements, and layout are two main areas that we take for granted. Each has changed considerably from the middle of the decade to the present. The differences between these two kitchens can be seen in the parallel of the Greenbelt kitchen and that of my own modern kitchen at home. Each provide an area for food preparation and storage, yet they differ a good deal.

My first impression of the Greenbelt kitchen was "wow, this kitchen is smaller than many walk in closets!". True, it was very small, but given the size of the house and it’s occupants it was efficient. As one examines the room on the far wall one can see three metal cabinets over the sink and countertop. These simple cabinets made out of white sheet metal were inexpensive and provided ample storage space for items such as canned goods, depression glass, and ceramic fiesta ware. Next to the cabinets was a double sink, with one side extra deep for doing laundry and washing little children. Opposite the sink was the refrigerator or "ice box". This unit wasn’t more than four feet tall and contained a freezer section no bigger than a shoe box. Under the refrigerator were nine by nine asphalt tiles. These tiles as with the rest of the kitchen were plain, but served their purpose well. Finally tucked away in the left corner of the room was a small electric range. This unit was also white and contained four small electric burners and a small oven.For an indepth view of the refrigerator and stove visit Liana Liptak's project four on kitchen's and appliances.

This kitchen impacted it’s occupants in several ways. For example, the refrigerator offered very limited space. There was not enough room for frozen goods, or store bought prepared meals. Daily trips to the market were needed in order to obtain daily provisions. The kitchen was also small and tucked into the side of the house. It was not a central design element that would encourage congregation. The was not room for a table and chairs, thus the kitchen as the family meeting place did not exist in Greenbelt.

The second space I am analyzing is the kitchen found in my own home. This kitchen is 400 square feet and "modern" with many amenities not found in the Greenbelt kitchen. As you walk in the back door of the kitchen and step on the Mexican tile floor the first thing to greet you is a large brick fireplace with a mantel. Flanked on either side by illuminated white stained oak cabinets. These glass door cabinets display collections of antique depression glass as well as other collectable china pieces. Underneath these cabinets are one foot wide countertops resting on top of base cabinets. As you eye travels along this wall you come to the kitchen table surrounded by six windows facing the east to get the morning sun. Following the contour of the wall we now come to the back wall of the kitchen. Here one finds a monstrous subzero refrigerator. Adjacent to the refrigerator is a twelve foot Corian countertop with dual sinks and an ornate gold faucet. Under this top are more white cabinets that contain draws, shelves, a Culligan water system, a garbage disposal as well as a dishwasher. In the middle of the kitchen there is a five by ten foot Corian topped island with a Jen-aire range and a smokeless indoor barbecue. Also housed in one of the many base cabinets is a microwave oven.

This area of the home effects it’s occupants in several ways. First, due to it’s size it doubles as a family meeting space. Here the family gets together for meals as well as other tasks. It is not uncommon to find children doing home work or parents paying bills at the kitchen table. The water system also impacts the occupants to a certain degree by providing fresh filtered water without the inconvenience of having to purchase it at the store. On the topic of convenience, the indoor grill and garbage disposal also make life easier by not requiring the user to leave the kitchen for such tasks.

Although these two kitchens appear very different they do have certain items in common. First and perhaps the most obvious function they share is food preparation. All the meals for the family are cooked and prepared in these kitchens. All of the households pots and pans are stored among the many cabinets found in both kitchens. Also found in both kitchens is a refrigerator and an oven. The basic components of the two kitchens are the same. The newer kitchen puts more of an emphasis on appearance and convenience.

The two kitchens differ in even more ways than they are similar. The first difference is the size, my kitchen is about six times larger than the one in Greenbelt. This difference is necessary because the house is much bigger and must accommodate more people. The second difference is the primary user of the kitchen. During the era that Greenbelt was built, cooking was done almost entirely by the woman of the household. In my kitchen there is no set user, you are just as likely to find my father or myself cooking as you would my mother.This proves Harmony Loube's point that traditional gender sterotypes are being broken. Another obvious difference is the imported Mexican tiles compared to the asphalt tiles of Greenbelt. This type of floor was chosen because of it’s appearance, where as the asphalt tile was chosen more out of utility. The fireplace is a another aesthetic enhancement with no real relation to the function of the kitchen. Utility plays a factor in the use of prefabricated aluminum cabinets in Greenbelt. The metal cabinets contrast the custom wooden cabinets found in my kitchen. When the modern kitchen was designed the owners were concerned with how they matched the rest of the kitchen rather than how much they could hold. The illuminated glass doored cabinets in the modern kitchen are also for show with no real storage value. Two devices of technological convince found in the modern kitchen are a dishwasher and a microwave oven. These two items allow for more leisure time, they save you the trouble of washing the dishes by hand and preheating an oven to heat small things. The large refrigerator also allows for convenient weekly shopping, instead of the daily trips to the market that were necessary with a small ice box.

After viewing these two very different kitchens one can see how there has been a shift from the utility aspect of the kitchen to one of a showcase. It’s not uncommon for people to spend forty or fifty hours designing their kitchen.As stated in Hayley Bonica'spaper her fathers kichen plan was a major issue in his house design as well. The kitchen is a high traffic area in the home and people want their kitchen to reflect their own personal style. Implementation of time saving technological devices such as microwaves, dishwashers, and trash compactors are also important design elements of the modern kitchen. As technology has advanced so has the kitchen as found in this metamorphosis above.