Behind The Design

If the kitchen is called the heart of a home, then why are all of the new condominiums in Bangkok so heartless?

There must be people out there in Bangkok who are as fanatical about cooking and food as I am.

Walk into the home section of any department store and it is obvious there is a fascination for kitchens gadgets, utensils and cooking. This is part of the Thai lifestyle. So, when are you, the developers, going to get on board with this trend?

Of course, there are those people who never cook. But there are plenty of us out there who do, and we are looking for condominiums that match our lifestyles.

An increasing number of activities are now taking place in kitchens, including cooking, entertaining, working and just hanging out. Luxury kitchens are no longer for the rich and famous alone.

Look to the Japanese for inspiration; they have created functional and beautiful workspaces in the smallest of kitchens. Two electric burners do not a kitchen make.

If it were up to me, I would live in a 160-square-metre white box in which I would make the kitchen the heart and soul of my home and leave the rest open to true loft-style living. In today's modern world, only our closest friends come to our homes anyway. So why create a showroom when you have the opportunity to create a "living" room?

A few suggestions from this marketer of lifestyle brands: create a shaded rooftop community herb garden, an outdoor dining area with a refrigeration facility and gas barbecue and plan marketing campaigns based on consumers' lifestyles, in order to differentiate yourself from the other players.