Quartz surfaces manufacturer Caesarstone has revealed a first-look of their ICE project, an ice-inspired kitchen installation designed by Tom Dixon. The first installment of Caesarstone’s year-long collaboration with Dixon for 2016 will be unveiled at the Interior Design Show (IDS) in Toronto (21-24 January 2016), where Caesarstone has previously presented work by Nendo, Raw-Edges and Philippe Malouin.
ICE was inspired by Canada’s impressive frozen lakes and the formidable icebreakers that clear the way for freighters during the winter. Powering their way through the ice, they leave behind a frozen mix of jagged pieces in a spectacular array of whites and greys. A series of large monolithic triangular prisms in different sizes and heights form the base of the ice kitchen creating food prep area, serving stations, surfaces and stools.
The Toronto ice kitchen will be the first of four semi-professional kitchens inspired by the elements of Ice, Fire, Earth and Air. For each installation, Dixon will be using a secondary material that will form part of the element’s narrative and allow him to present Caesarstone in new ways. For Toronto, Dixon has chosen an aluminium extrusion system developed for flat pack housing, delivering a cold industrial aesthetic, whilst acting as the structural support and lighting rig for the installation, where Dixon’s Melt Lights complement the ice theme.
“In our Toronto show we propose a food preparation and consumption space, which draws on the analogy of the kitchen as an alchemist’s laboratory where raw materials are transformed into treasure through the elemental process of freezing, melting, shaving and cooking with ice,” says Dixon. “Where the contemporary kitchen seeks to hide the activities behind a series of minimal blocks, here we expose the chopping, the steaming, the freezing, the scouring and the disposal of waste in all its active glory.”