Copenhagen-based brand Reform has collaborated with Paris-based architect Jean Nouvel on a light-filled new kitchen design. The new Reform kitchen weaves minimalist Danish design references with Nouvel’s characteristically bold design ticks for a bright and welcoming space, adding an art deco-inspired edge to Reform’s sleek and sculptural minimalism. Units crafted from steel – kitchen fronts are available in black or untreated metal – play on Nouvel’s ability to capture light, through a series of understated vertical ridges.
‘Jean Nouvel is known for his minimalistic, yet playful and artistic expression,’ says Jeppe Christensen, founder and CEO of Reform. ‘The form and materiality he creates play with light and create different colours and reflections – and I think his kitchen design encapsulates this in a sublime way.’ With the grooves in the gleaming metal brilliantly catching the light, the stainless steel and grey and black Fenix laminate countertops become elegant and illuminated expanses.
Reform kitchen: ‘minimalistic yet expressionistic’
The architectural sensibility Nouvel brings to the project is central to the design, which is minimalist and functional, while capturing the imagination. The space is brought to life by intricate details that were finalised in a lengthy creative process, hampered in part by the Covid-19 pandemic.
‘It was really difficult to travel to Paris and meet up in real life, which is something that is super important in the design phase and prototyping phase – you always need to work with the details together,’ says Christensen. ‘You need to see and discuss things in real life. Also, it’s quite a complex kitchen design to manufacture – there are a lot of small details that need to be perfect, so there were many fittings and adjustments to hit the right expression, and most importantly the high quality that we always strive for.’
The result translates a modern minimalism into a welcoming and workable space. ‘The kitchen is minimalistic, but yet super expressionistic – I think that’s what Jean Nouvel does so well,’ adds Christensen. ‘It inspires us to live a life of expression, without drowning out everything else – which I think is quite sympathetic and beautiful.’
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