The wind kitchen is a speculative project which explores how old or even obsolete technologies could be readopted in a low-energy-future. We need to acknowledge that we are as energy-rich as we are ever going to get. When we are going to run out of fossil resources, technologies alone won’t substitute the extraordinary level of energy that we have now. The kitchen is inspired by technologies of the past, it uses direct mechanical power from the wind to function, just like an old wind-mill. This method allows to ditch energy storing and use the energy available far more efficiently..
The mere concept of a weather-dependent kitchen is far away from the world we live in today. It triggers mixed reactions: questioning, suspicion, or even annoyment, and the concept quickly falls in the realm of impossibilities. Having the opportunity to give it a believable flesh, brings weather dependency idea on a different level. It questions our hunger for energy and makes one realize that increasingly complex technology is not the only way to plan the future. Nevertheless, the kitchen uses electronic devices to predict the weather which is also a part of the metaphor. All high-tech is no to throw out, we should mix the knowledge and skills we have gained nowadays with the ingenuity and creativity of things of the past. The kitchen is made solely out of concrete and steel, two materials having a low embodied energy. For this project, a real-size prototype was built, and it (almost) works for real
