For nigh-on 130 years, German brand Poggenpohl has been driven by one goal — to make the kitchen better. It’s a mission statement that’s taken them from small, family-run business to world leading luxury kitchen brand, by innovating, inventing, staying ahead of the times and setting trends themselves.
In all this time, the brand that invented the kitchen island and championed the white lacquer worktop finish has become synonymous with better living — typified by precision, elegance, smooth functionality, and aesthetic minimalism.
As Poggenpohl announces the release of its 2021 collection, they’ve succeeded once again in looking for fresh perspectives and setting new trends, all while maintaining the kitchen’s core purpose as both a gathering place and a workshop.
Following Tested Principles, Spotting New Dimensions
These principles are more evident than ever in Poggenpohl's newly-released collection, which follows the central theme of “Spotting New Dimensions”.
Rather than reinventing the wheel, the 2021 collection focuses on applying a more liberal interpretation of luxury to its already successful pieces by using sustainably sourced rare materials in the right places, all the while maintaining the brand’s clean, cool characteristics.
When we spoke to Poggenpohl earlier this year, we talked of how the kitchen was the heart of the home itself. This is something the company has doubled down on with the new collection, writing of it, “The kitchen is part of an architecture that combines living space with life itself, and through personalised features and intuitive use, it becomes an expression of one’s personality.”
Rare Materials Used With Purpose
Think Terrazzo paired and folded by hand with Nero Portoro Marble in a stately kitchen island, instenely blue rough lava stone smoothed down and sealed in glass enamel, textured white ceramics manufactured from recycled granulate shards and smoothed to unique, crystalline worktop slabs.
When Poggenpohl walked Vietcetera through its 2021 collection, some of the many standouts were to be found in the upgraded +MODO range. Utilitarian and user friendly in function, elegant in aesthetic, the kitchen island sits at the heart of the home with a place for everything a family might need.
However it’s the look and feel that really draws the eye. One iteration of the range, “City Jewels”, features smooth ceramic worktop with a light golden shimmer to set it apart, enveloped in a complex mesh-like veil. Then there’s the soft underlighting of the worktop, which sets off the stained matt grey of the shelves below to create a relaxed look. It’s luxury epitomized no doubt, but it’s also strikingly homely — a balance that’s difficult to get right for most.
Another addition to the +MODO collection that can’t be ignored is the bold-titled, “The Splendor of Elements,” which employs a much more opulent approach. The worktop is a deep, intense Rosso Lepanto marble dappled with calcite and white quartz veins, brought back to earth with an in-built floating hob that evokes hearth and home. The eucalyptus wood cabinets complement the dark red natural stone, while the underlighting lightens the mood nicely.
Harking Back To The Natural World
In the face of such ornate, striking designs in the Poggenpohl 2021 collection, the golden thread that runs through the +MODO, +SEGMENTO, +VENOVO ranges is one of the natural world, brought home for family use.
The brilliant blue of the aforementioned lava stone brings to mind the Mediterranean Sea, the dark wood tones summon thoughts of secluded forests, the combination of playful terrazzo and smoked oak elicit Southern Europe’s terrain and architecture.
The +VENOVO line leads the homage to nature with its varying shades of green, best showcased in a worktop made from recycled shards, pressed and smoothed into a sophisticated ceramic glass work surface.
While Poggenpohl is doubling down on luxury flourishes, it’s encouraging to see the brand play its part in promoting sustainability.
Built To Function, Built To Be Personalized
It goes without saying that when investing in high end goods for the home, lasting quality, robustness and practicality are crucial. After all, the kitchen is still a work space — pots and pans clank and bang, knives are drawn, ingredients are chopped, hot oil bubbles and flames are stoked.
That’s why functionality and utility lead the dance at the core of Poggenpohl’s designs, and aesthetic follows (albeit very closely) behind. A closer look at the +SEGMENTO, +VENOVO and +MODO collections shows that the design approach goes beyond elegant worktops and cabinet doors.
The buyer’s lifestyle, tastes and necessities play a major role on what storage is needed, which appliances have to be brought into the fold, and how the space is brought together.
As for inside and below the ornate exterior, it’s all about personalization, organisation, preservation. Clear basic drawers and matching containers for fresh foods which keep better in dark storage places, tray lids to help reduce light penetration, and individual bins and boxes for safekeeping beyond the cold of the fridge.
There’s even a perfect solution for baked goods to reduce drying and preserve freshness: A clay inlay regulates the release of moisture, and the lid, made of oiled solid wood, also serves as a chopping board.
For more airy storage requirements, there’s also a new Array 170 shelving system which features metal mesh baskets so their contents are easy to locate when the time comes. Air-tight storage requirements have been catered for too, with beautiful pure white porcelain jars in four different sizes, as well as jars made to match whichever worktop or cabinet materials you choose, unifying the central kitchen aesthetic.
Going back to what Poggenpogl Vietnam CEO Frank Tielens told us in July 2021, luxury is, “About finding an equilibrium between beauty and purpose to create a room that can be easily integrated into a home — a perfectly fitted puzzle piece.” This philosophy is easily visible when exploring the 2021 collection.
The fact too, that it’s not a one-size-fits-all approach from Poggenpohl, is one that should appeal to homeowners in Vietnam, where modern high rise apartments in an array of sizes coexist with slender multi storey houses and squat villas. When taking its products into the home, Poggenpohl leverages an built-to-order approach which considers a customers living quarters, lifestyle practical needs, and personal taste.
This essentially means that when investing in a Poggenpohl kitchen, a customer is buying a distinctively on-brand range of products, but the integration into their home is nigh-on unique to them and them alone.