Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky

Lino portrait by Carine

Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky was a social architect mostly known for her design of the ‘Frankfurt kitchen’, the first fitted kitchen. That phrase, ‘social’ architect, refers to the fact that she designed with the user in mind. She knew her designs functioned within a social context, so she studied the perspectives of those who’d be living in the spaces she designed. It was her way to create a more egalitarian world. With her kitchen, for example, she transformed the lives of women through domestic architecture. She studied the efficiency of dining cars on trains and the patterns of women working as housewives with detailed time-motion studies. The result was a unified concept for the kitchen space, the first of its kind. By placing everything within reach and incorporating some clever tricks and gadgets, she cut down unpaid household chores so women would spend less time in the kitchen.

I was convinced that the economic independence and self-realization of women would be a common good, and that therefore the further rationalization of household labour was an imperative.

Margerete Schütte-Lihotzky

The Austrian ‘Grete’, as she was known to her friends, was a member of the Communist party. During her long career – she lived to 103! – she contributed to many housing projects for the working classes. Her projects took her to the Soviet Union, Turkey, Germany and Austria. She made her work affordable by using modular pre-fabricated elements, something which fits right into current sustainable architectural trends.

The Frankfurt kitchen was part of ‘Neues Frankfurt’, a social housing programme in Frankfurt in the late twenties, aimed to combat the housing shortage and provide designed spaces for the masses. The project included the development of the font Futura, but also Grete’s revolution in the designs of kitchens. For this project 10,000 (or 12000, according to some sources) apartments and houses were fitted with her kitchen. Every kitchen included built-in storage, adjustable lights, a swivel stool, labelled bins and a fold-away ironing board. For each element she considered the best or most hygienic materials, making sure they best suited their purpose.

In 1916 no one would have conceived of a woman being commissioned to build a house—not even myself.

Margerete Schütte-Lihotzky

Grete’s work was inclusive and socially informed. The fact that she designed spaces for everyday use, did her research and that form followed its necessary function is something I really admire in her work.

Also look up:

The first Dutch woman to become an architect was Margaret Staal-Kropholler. She also designed homes from the woman’s perspective, a whole new perspective in the twenties and thirties of the 20th century.

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